Denver, CO—Natural Grocers was named a Winning ‘W’ Company by 2020 Women on Boards (2020WOB) for having at least 20% of its board of directors made up of women before 2020, according to a press release. Women currently make up 29% of Natural Grocers’ board members and 53% of upper-level management positions.

2020WOB is a nonprofit education campaign looking to increase the number of women on corporate boards of directors to at least 20% by 2020. Winning ‘W’ Companies are cited in the 2020WOB annualGender Diversity Index, which tracks the numbers of corporate board seats held by women among theRussell 3000 Index. As of 2018, the percentage of board seats held by women rose from 2017’s 16% to 17.7%. Half of theRussell 3000companies still have one or no women on their boards.

“Natural Grocers has always challenged the status quo,” said Kemper Isely, co-president of Natural Grocers. “We operate on the founding principles established by Margaret and Philip Isely, and we have never compromised our standards. We are proud of the progress we’ve made so far, and we are encouraged to see more companies join us in promoting gender diversity at the board and management levels.”