Starbucks Names Mellody Hobson Board Chair — The First Black Woman In The Role

11 Dec 2020

Starbucks has named Mellody Hobson the new chair of its board of directors, the first Black woman in that role at the company.

Hobson, who is co-CEO of the asset management firm Ariel Investments, will step into the position in March. She has been a Starbucks director since 2005 and will replace Myron E. Ullman, III, who has served as chair since 2018.

The announcement comes as major companies face mounting criticism for a lack of diversity on their corporate boards, and are being pushed to make changes. Only 16.8% of large-cap company boards have racially or ethnically diverse directors, up from 13.6% in 2015, according to a September report from ISS ESG, the responsible-investment arm of Institutional Shareholder Services.

Read the article here.