Perspectives
Visit this section regularly to keep up with the latest news on African-American Board news. It includes content on new appointments, the latest studies/trends and thought provoking content on why the average person should care about the lack of African-Americans serving on Fortune 500 Boards of Directors. So why is African-American Board membership important? Board Directors mission is to create shareholder value.
Boards create the policies that determine which people companies choose to hire, train, promote, and fire. They have oversight of corporate expenditures that cut across areas that impact society as a whole. They also shape corporate giving. For these reasons, we need to bring diversity…diversity of thought, leadership, global perspectives.
22 May 2023
Obtaining corporate board positions could become more complicated if the U.S. Supreme Court eradicates affirmative action this summer.
The decision hangs in the balance as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares for an upcoming ruling on two cases to determine if race should be considered in college admissions. Banning affirmative action will also impact the likelihood of Black women in corporate board positions.
In 2021, Black women gained a record number of seats—168 Black women held 231 spots of the over 5,500 seats—in the boardrooms of S&P 500 companies, according to ISS Corporate Solutions.
Still, just 4% of Black women have earned a seat at the table.
Merline Saintil, co-founder of Black Women on Boards, said Black women have trouble landing corporate board positions due to a lack of access to the right networks. Whites with access to networks are likely to have held previous C-suite positions that distinguish their resumes from those of Black women.
Read more here.
22 May 2023
The long-running fight against affirmative action and race-conscious opportunities by conservatives may finally reach a disastrous tipping point.
According to a Fast Company report, the reversal of affirmative actions could disproportionately affect Black women in the United States. Especially Black women in corporate America or those looking to make a future in that space.
A Grim Statistic
Only four percent of S&P 500 company board seats are currently held by Black women. Because of that, there is already an inherent disadvantage against Black women in corporate. It should not be ignored. Affirmative action is an intersectional issue that can potentially affect the structures designed to make organizations equitable. The United States is accountable for its troubled past.
Read more here.
17 April 2023
Transcarent, a health and care experience company that makes it easy for people to access high-quality, affordable care announced that industry leader Ken Frazier has been appointed to chair the company’s board of directors. This addition to the Board is a formative milestone for Transcarent. As one of the most influential Chief Executive Officers in healthcare, Frazier brings unmatched experience and business acumen to help shape Transcarent’s long-term growth strategy.
Ken Frazier recently served as the Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Merck, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer for a decade, from 2011 to 2021. He is currently the chairman of General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Initiatives, focused on creating a more proactive, affordable, and equitable system of care.
Read more here.
17 April 2023
Georgia Power announced that it has elected Steven R. Ewing to the company’s board of directors. Ewing is owner, president and CEO of the Wade Ford Franchise in Smyrna, Georgia. Wade Ford is the oldest metro-Atlanta Ford dealer, serving customers from across the Southeast since 1933, and one of the largest Black-owned Ford dealerships in the country.
Ewing has owned and operated successful auto dealerships representing multiple domestic and international brands in Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania during his career spanning more than 30 years. He purchased Wade Ford in 2002 and has since expanded its operations to offer exceptional customer service and new, pre-owned and fleet vehicles across three properties on South Cobb Drive in the metro-Atlanta area.
Read the release here.
28 Mar 2023
Aurora Innovation, Inc., a leading autonomous vehicle company, announced it has appointed Gloria Boyland to its board of directors. Boyland has served as an advisor to the company for the last two years, and brings extensive industry experience and logistics expertise gained over more than 20 plus years as a senior executive at Fortune 50 companies. Boyland’s experience and insights are set to play a key role as the company scales operations, increases deliveries, and works closely with its shipping partners to integrate its autonomous trucking product into daily shipping operations.
Boyland most recently served as the corporate vice president, operations service support and advanced technology at FedEx for almost five years. As part of her role, Boyland led teams responsible for identifying and evaluating emerging technologies, as well as led the governance and implementation of those technologies. In her more than 15 years at FedEx, Boyland held other roles as well, including serving as vice president of service experience and quality, where she focused on enterprise-wide improvement initiatives and strategic changes to improve customer experiences. Prior to FedEx, she held a variety of positions which included customer experience management, business development, and acquisition integration. Boyland also currently serves on the boards of United Natural Foods, Inc. and Vontier.
Read the release here.
08 Mar 2023
Transcarent, a health and care experience company that makes it easy for people to access high-quality, affordable care announced today that industry leader Ken Frazier has been appointed to chair the company’s board of directors. This addition to the Board is a formative milestone for Transcarent. As one of the most influential Chief Executive Officers in healthcare, Frazier brings unmatched experience and business acumen to help shape Transcarent’s long-term growth strategy.
Ken Frazier recently served as the Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Merck, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer for a decade, from 2011 to 2021. He is currently the chairman of General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Initiatives, focused on creating a more proactive, affordable, and equitable system of care.
Read the release here.
08 Mar 2023
Natera, Inc. a global leader in cell-free DNA testing, announced that Ruth E. Williams-Brinkley has been appointed to the Company’s board of directors.
Williams-Brinkley has three decades of healthcare industry experience. She currently serves as president of Kaiser Permanente Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States (KPMAS), where she oversees the company’s care delivery and health plan operations in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia. KPMAS serves nearly 830,000 members, operates more than 35 medical office buildings, and maintains partnerships with 11 premier hospitals and health systems in the region.
Prior to her current role, Williams-Brinkley was president of Kaiser Permanente Health Plan and Hospitals of the Northwest. She also previously served as the inaugural CEO of KentuckyOne Health, which was the largest integrated health system in Kentucky; president and CEO of Carondelet Health System in Tucson, Arizona; and president and CEO of Memorial Healthcare System in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Read the release here.
08 Mar 2023
Entergy announced the election of two new members to its board of directors, Gina Adams and John Black.
Adams has a legal and government affairs career that spans nearly 40 years, currently serving as corporate vice president of government and regulatory affairs for FedEx Corporation.
Adams, a Washington, D.C., resident, has served more than 30 years at FedEx Corporation and eight years with the U.S. Department of Transportation. She is responsible for shaping and promoting the interests of all FedEx Corporation operating companies in the political and policy arenas. She has more than 20 years of lobbying experience, promoting the business interests of FedEx for all commerce, infrastructure and transportation issues at the international, national, state and local levels.
She earned a Master of Law from Georgetown University, a Juris Doctor from Howard University and a bachelor’s degree in public affairs from American University.
Read the release here.
06 Feb 2023
Emily Pitts, chief diversity officer for Lindenwood University, was recently named to the board of United Way of Greater St. Louis. She became the first African American woman General Partner at Edward Jones a Fortune 500 financial services firm. During her 25-year career with Edward Jones, she served as a financial advisor for nine years helping clients reach their personal financial goals and objectives. Before Lindenwood, her most recent role at Edward Jones was general partner over Inclusion and Diversity. In her role, Emily created and oversaw the firm’s Inclusion & Diversity strategy. She established the firms first Courageous Conversation Program to support the CEO Diversity Action Plan.
Read more here.
06 Feb 2023
Thrivent, a Fortune 500 diversified financial services organization, announced today that N. Cornell Boggs, III has been elected by the Board of Directors to serve as its next chair.
Cornell Boggs will succeed Bonnie E. Raquet, Thrivent’s first-ever female chair of the board, who will conclude her board service after holding this important leadership position since 2018.
“Cornell has been an invaluable member of Thrivent’s Board of Directors for nearly a decade, and we’ve greatly benefited from his leadership, vast business experience and passion for helping Thrivent’s clients achieve financial clarity, enabling lives full of meaning and gratitude. Along with the Board of Directors, I look forward to continuing our work with Cornell in his expanded leadership role as he guides Thrivent into our next phase of growth,” said Terry Rasmussen, president and CEO of Thrivent.
Read the full article here.
24 Jan 2023
M&T Bank Corporation, (“M&T”), announced today the election of Carlton J. Charles, Senior Vice President, Treasury and Risk Management at Hearst, to its Board of Directors, effective January 18, 2023. Upon his election, Mr. Charles was appointed as a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee of M&T’s Board. Mr. Charles was also elected to the Board of Directors of M&T Bank, M&T’s principal banking subsidiary.
Mr. Charles serves as Corporate Treasurer for Hearst, a leading global, diversified information, services, and media company with operations in 40 countries. He oversees the company’s risk management activities as chairman of the Risk Working Group, which he helped establish at Hearst. Mr. Charles also leads insurance operations for the company, serves as Chairman of Level Up Ventures, a venture capital unit within Hearst focused on Black and Latino entrepreneurs, and is currently guiding an effort to further diversify Hearst’s roster of vendor partners. Mr. Charles serves on the Hearst Board of Directors and the Board of Advisors for HearstLab, Hearst’s platform for nurturing the growth of early-stage, women-led companies.
Read the release here.
24 Jan 2023
JPMorgan Chase announced today that Alicia Boler Davis, 53, has been elected as a director of the company, effective March 20, 2023.
Ms. Davis serves as Chief Executive Officer of Alto Pharmacy. Prior to Alto, she was Senior Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment and was a member of the Senior Team (S-Team) at Amazon. She also led Amazon’s worldwide network of customer service operations, robotics and technology, as well as the company’s sustainability, product assurance, real estate, construction, and procurement organizations. Prior to her roles at Amazon, she spent nearly 25 years at General Motors where she became Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations. Among other awards and accolades, in 2018 Ms. Davis was named one of The Most Powerful Female Engineers by Business Insider, Black Engineer of the Year by Career Communications Group, and in 2020 and 2021 she was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women.
Read the release here.
17 January 2023
iCapital, a financial services technology company based in New York City, has appointed Agnes Bundy Scanlan to its board of directors, effective January 1, 2023, it said.
A 30-year industry veteran, Bundy Scanlan brings a wealth of experience in regulatory risk management and compliance to her new role. Since May 2020, she has served as president of the Cambridge Group, a regulatory risk management firm that advises financial services and fintech firms. She is a former chief regulatory and compliance officer and global chief privacy officer at TD Bank. She also serves on the boards of AppFolio, R1 RCM and Truist Financial. In 2021, she was recognized on Savoy magazine’s list of “Most Influential Black Corporate Directors.”
Read more here.
04 Jan 2023
1. Demonstrate your ability to add value.
Whether you’re in the early, mid, or later stages of your career, if you want to secure a board seat, now is the time to make others aware of your ability to add value. Your goal is to ensure that people see you as someone who can help.
To demonstrate your suitability, you need to showcase your ability to have high-level strategic conversations at an executive level. That involves deep and active listening, characterized by seeking information, engaging in dialogue, and challenging others’ thought processes.
2. Gain board exposure.
There’s a wide variety of boards (e.g., private corporate, small-cap public corporate, large-cap public corporate, nonprofit), and each type has a unique focus, impact, and set of needed director competencies. You need to understand these differences to demonstrate your value as a potential board member. Doing the legwork will help you determine which boards you are most interested in serving and where you may be able to add the most value.
You can take three steps to build this knowledge and experience. First, identify board members in your existing network and ask them about their experiences and observations. If you don’t have these relationships, you can find them through affinity groups or by asking your contacts to introduce you to current board members. You may also review issues of board-related magazines such as Directors & Boards, Directorship, or Private Company Director to begin familiarizing yourself with the concerns and activities of various kinds of boards.
Second, join professional organizations dedicated to board effectiveness, such as National Association of Corporate Directors, 50/50 Women on Boards, the Executive Leadership Council, Black Corporate Board Readiness Program, Black Women on Boards, African American Directors Forum, Women Corporate Directors, OnBoarding Women, Director Diversity Initiative, Private Directors Association, and many more.
Third, gain exposure to boards by interacting with your own company’s board. Attend board meetings or offer to present.
3. Be your own best advocate.
If you want to secure a board seat, you need to become a vocal self-advocate. Let your friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances know that you’re interested in serving on corporate boards, which types of boards you would be a great fit for, and why you’re interested in serving. These elements make up your “board readiness story.” When you share this story with everyone and anyone, you help others advocate for you and increase the chances that you will come to mind when a board seat opens.
4. Build and nurture your network.
The directors I spoke with emphasized that networking is key to getting on boards because of the inherently social nature of recruiting and placing new directors. If you desire a board seat, you need to make sure the right people know you and say positive things about you, that you learn from their experiences, and that you maintain positive relationships throughout your network — even if it has been years since you worked together.
Read the article here.
13 Dec 2022
Exxon Mobil Corporation announced John D. Harris II as a new board member. Harris is the former chief executive officer of Raytheon International Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company, a global engineering and technology company focused on aviation, space and defense.
Harris currently serves on the public boards of Kyndryl Holdings, Cisco Systems, and Flex. Harris began his career in 1983 with Raytheon Company and served in various roles of increasing responsibility, including several vice president roles overseeing operations, contracts, supply chain, electronic systems, and intelligence, information and technical services.
Read the release here.
13 Dec 2022
The Kroger Co., America’s grocer, announced its Board of Directors has been named a top 20 finalist for the 2022 NACD Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Awards. The awards recognize boards that have improved their governance and created long-term value for stakeholders by implementing forward-thinking diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) practices.
“We believe this work is never complete,” said Ronald Sargent, Lead Director and former Staples, Inc. Chair and CEO. “Under the board’s leadership, we have achieved important progress and we will continue to support investments and policies that improve diversity, equity and inclusion for Kroger associates and our communities. The Board is honored to be recognized by NACD.”
Kroger’s Board of Directors holds management accountable for delivering and executing the company’s DE&I goals and encourages continued investments to achieve measurable change, including its ongoing commitment to develop a workforce that better reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of the communities served by Kroger. The Board of Directors is an independent board, with 64 percent of the body representing diversity by gender or race/ethnicity.
Read the release here.
12 Dec 2022
When Nike recently appointed CMO of Telemundo, Monica Gil, to its board of directors, it accomplished two goals too many corporate boards fail at: improving demographic diversity and bringing market expertise to the board.
The first goal — diversifying boards — is one we hear a lot about. California has even tried to pass laws mandating diversity on boards. But in spite of the talk about the importance of representation on boards, they remain predominantly white and male. Women hold only 14% of board seats in the United States, and two in five boards don’t have a single woman director. Even on boards that do have female representation, it’s minimal: 58% of women who hold board positions are the only female members of their boards.
Meanwhile, racial diversity is also woefully lacking, with Latinos the most poorly represented of all ethnic groups. In 2020, Latinos held only 4.1% of all Fortune 500 board seats, while whites held 82.5%.
Read more here.
06 Nov 2022
Otis Worldwide, the world’s leading company for elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service, has appointed Nelda Connors to its Board of Directors, effective October 28, 2022.
Connors has held executive and management roles in diversified industrial and automotive sectors, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Atkore International Inc., formerly the Electrical and Metal Products division of Tyco International, and Vice President at Eaton Corporation, where she held several positions in operations, continuous improvement and general management.
Connors currently serves as the CEO of Pine Grove Holdings, a woman- and minority-owned, privately held investment company she founded that acquires and operates small-to-middle market businesses primarily focused in power generation, software as a service, advanced material and specialty logistics and transportation.
Read the release here.
17 Nov 2022
A new study has found that diversity on corporate boards of directors leads to statistically significant increases in the representation of under-represented groups at the manager and staff level. The study – “Do Diverse Directors Influence DEI Outcomes?” by Wei Cai (Columbia Graduate School of Business), Aiyesha Dey (Harvard Business School), Jillian Grennan (Santa Clara University and UC-Berkeley), Joseph Pacelli (Harvard Business School), and Lin Qiu (Purdue University) – adds to the growing literature on board diversity and human capital management, two significant ESG considerations for many corporations and investors. While proponents of ESG sometimes focus on advancing each of those goals individually, the study links the two considerations and shows that one of them (board diversity) can promote at least some aspects of the other (diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce).
Read more here.
6 Nov 2022
Black leaders have the unique midas touch to grow a corporation’s profits. New research revealed that when companies put African-American leaders at the helm, stocks jump and stronger market footholds are made. In fact, 93% of the Black CEOs surveyed had advanced degrees compared to 53% of white CEOs. In addition, leaders of Color have an additional 1.6 years of education and are more likely to have an elite degree from a top university. A medium-sized firm who appoints a Black executive will experience a 3.1% increase in market capitalization within three days of an announcement.
Read more here.
25 Oct 2022
Shake Shack Inc. announced the appointment of Lori George Billingsley to its Board of Directors, effective October 17, 2022. Billingsley has been named to the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. She will become the eleventh member of Shake Shack’s Board of Directors, following Tristan Walker’s appointment in 2020.
Lori George Billingsley is the former Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer for The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC). In that role, she led the company’s DEI Center of Excellence, directed to enable a more engaged global workforce, mirror the markets served, and support a more inclusive culture to best position the employees of the company to drive growth. During her tenure, Coca-Cola set bold public goals, including being 50% led by women and mirroring its markets by 2030, built a more inclusive culture, launched the first-ever global pay equity analysis, and tied executive pay to progress on DEI.
Read the release here.
25 Oct 2022
Carver Bancorp, Inc. has appointed Robin L. Nunn as an independent member on its board of directors.
Simultaneously, the holding company of Carver Federal Savings Bank reported the move allows it to add a Black woman director when the percentage of women of color on public company boards continues to be disproportionately low. Black Women on Boards noted that Black women only make up four percent of the board seats at S&P 500 companies.
Read the article here.
25 Oct 2022
Otis Rolley possessed a desire to drive positive change in local communities, a craving that led him to Wells Fargo, where he would lead social impact at the banking giant.
He said he approached the interview process with Wells’ CEO Charlie Scharf as a two-way conversation.
“There is a saying, do not talk about it, be about it,” said Rolley, now the head of Philanthropy and Community Impact at the bank and president of the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Rolley also counts as the first Black American elected to his position permanently by the Wells Fargo Foundation board, overseeing about $300 million in philanthropy, employee volunteerism and giving, and the company’s strategic vision on advancing social impact.
Read more here.
17 Oct 2022
Disney’s Kareem Daniel is the fourth new director to join McDonald’s board this year.
The fast-food giant announced that the more than 15-year Disney veteran is the 15th member of its board, effective Oct. 1.
Daniel currently leads Disney’s media and entertainment distribution group, overseeing the growth of its streaming services, TV channels and theatrical film distribution. He’s considered Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s right-hand man.
Previously, Daniel held leadership roles on the company’s corporate strategy, Walt Disney Imagineering and consumer products, games, and publishing teams. He’s a native of Chicago, where McDonald’s is headquartered.
Read the article here.
17 Oct 2022
Mogul, Inc. one of the world’s largest resources for diverse talent and a high-growth diversity recruitment firm, today announced that its new research report, “2022 Board Diversity: Inequalities in Race and Gender” reveals that the corporate boards of companies on the Fortune 500 list remain predominantly white and male. The report analyzes gender and racial composition of 494 companies on the 2022 Fortune 500 list.
The report’s key findings include the following:
· 68.99% of board members are male vs. 31.01% female
· 78.44% of board members are white vs. 21.56% non-white
· There are no Native Americans serving on any Fortune 500 boards
· Board chairs – the most influential roles on boards – are 91.3% white and 82.4% male
· 30% of Fortune 500 board seats are held by 746 people
Notable changes from the 2021 report include the following:
· Most new board members in 2022 are predominantly white males (68.0%)
· More companies on the 2022 list have zero ethnic diversity since last year (22 companies vs. 16 last year)
· Two companies on the Fortune 500 list have no diversity at all: no gender diversity and no ethnic diversity. This is an improvement from three companies last year.
Read more here.
17 Oct 2022
The Board of Directors of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) is pleased to announce that Larry Quinlan, former Global Chief Information Officer for Deloitte, joined the Board effective October 13, 2022.
Mr. Quinlan has over 35 years of experience as a technology leader. He most recently served as Global Chief Information Officer for Deloitte, responsible for all facets of technology strategy and operations and leading over 10,000 IT professionals in 175 countries. During his time at Deloitte, Mr. Quinlan oversaw major client relationships and advised company boards and CEOs on a wide range of IT, cybersecurity, and digital strategic priorities. Mr. Quinlan currently serves on the boards of ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) and Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL). He holds an MBA from Baruch College, City University of New York and a BSc degree (Hons) from the University of the West Indies, as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies.
Read the release here.
26 September 2022
S&P 500 has demonstrated a renewed commitment to increasing Black boardroom representation in recent years. In this session, Black Enterprise has brought together a group of corporate board members and corporate governance diversity advocates to discuss the best ways to further inclusivity and avoid the recycling process. To prepare the next generation of Black board members, panelists discuss issues such as board readiness, removing barriers to the nomination process, and expanding diverse board leadership, among other topics.
Speakers: Kimberly A. Blackwell, Founder & CEO, PMM Agency
13 Sep 2022
Boomi™, the intelligent connectivity and automation leader, announced the appointment of former Deloitte CIO Larry Quinlan as an independent, non-executive member of its Board of Directors.
As the former Global Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Deloitte, Quinlan held responsibility for the $45B professional services firm’s technology strategy and operations, overseeing more than 10,000 information technology (IT) professionals in 175 countries. Sought-after for his understanding of strategic impacts of emerging technologies, he brings over 35 years of experience advising Fortune 500 boards and CEOs. Quinlan currently sits on numerous boards, including those of two public companies: ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), a leader in cloud digital workflow, and Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL), a world leader in real estate services, as well as UBS Americas Holding LLC where he chairs the Technology and Cyber Forum of the Board.
Read the release here.
13 Sep 2022
Anita Lynch is an experienced leader in data strategy, data architecture and engineering, analytics, data science and data governance. She has led enterprise teams for major tech innovators including Apple, Yahoo, Amazon and most recently Disney Streaming. As an expert in tech, data and strategy, Lynch has led and advised organizations to successfully achieve competitive advantage through data, and effectively scaled data platforms in businesses ranging from startups to global enterprises. Lynch was a management consultant at Bain & Company until 2011 after completing her master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in 2008.
In 2021, Lynch became the first Chief Data Officer at New Relic — marking her as one of the first African American women to serve in the position for a public company.
After making history last year, Lynch continues to kick down doors. In July, she was appointed to the Board of Directors, Nasdaq U.S. Exchanges. While in the early stages of being a full-time corporate board director, Lynch is focused on identifying and managing risk, as well as helping the CEO ensure they have an effective strategy to navigate that.
Read the story here.
06 Sep 2022
Encore Capital Group, Inc., an international specialty finance company, announced today that William C. Goings has been appointed to Encore’s Board of Directors. Mr. Goings will serve on Encore’s Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Goings has years of global executive leadership experience in financial services, including banking and insurance. Goings most recently served as executive vice president, TD Bank Group and president, TD Insurance. His experience also includes serving as president of Genworth Financial’s life insurance operations and as CEO of GE Financial Insurance, Europe, a former subsidiary of GE Capital. Goings’ earlier career involved working for global companies in corporate banking, strategic planning and business development. Goings currently serves as a director of TrueBlue, Inc. He also serves as a director of AARP Service Inc. and as a member of the Board of Trustees for Penn Mutual Insurance Company.
17 August 2022
Toyota Motor North America announced the appointment of three new members to its North American Diversity Advisory Board (DAB).
Robert C. Davidson Jr., CEO, Surface Protection Industries, Domenika Lynch, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program, and retired Army Major General Tammy S. Smith joined the company’s DAB.
Created in 2002, Toyota’s DAB plays an integral role in fostering a more diverse and inclusive company culture. Working closely with the organization’s senior leadership, the Advisory Board – led by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman – helps drive adoption of best practices and ensures executive accountability.
The new members represent a wide range of experience in the field of diversity and inclusion.
Read the release here.
17 August 2022
Cass Information Systems, Inc., leading provider of transportation, energy, telecom and waste invoice payment and information services, reported that Ann Marr has been appointed to its board of directors.
Marr is currently Executive Vice President of Global Human Resources at World Wide Technology (WWT), a $16 billion systems integrations, value added reseller and software development company.
Marr is on the Advisory Board (and founding member of the St. Louis Chapter) of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources and a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. She was highlighted in Who’s Who is Black St. Louis, honored as “Corporate Executive of the Year” by the St. Louis American newspaper, named as one of the “50 Most Powerful Minority Women in Business” by the Minority Enterprise Advocate magazine, and one of the “25 Most Influential Businesswomen in St. Louis” by the St. Louis Business Journal. She was also selected as a “Leader of Distinction” by the YWCA of Greater St. Louis, recognized as one of the Top Diverse Business Leaders by the St. Louis Business Journal, a recipient of the Leadership Award by the Great Place to Work Institute, and the Missouri Athletic Club 2019 Women of Distinction.
Read the release here.
03 Aug 2022
WestRock Company, a leading provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, announced that Dmitri L. Stockton, retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of GE Asset Management, has been elected to the Company’s board of directors.
Stockton spent 30 years with GE Company, beginning with leadership assignments throughout the United States and progressing to executive leadership roles including a decade abroad with appointments as chief executive officer of GE Capital Bank in Switzerland, president and CEO of GE Consumer Finance in Central and Eastern Europe, and president and CEO of GE Capital Global Banking. Stockton became a vice president of GE Company in 2005 and senior vice president in 2008. In 2011, Stockton returned to the U.S., spending five years as chairman, president, and chief executive officer of GE Asset Management, a $120 billion global asset management company. Dmitri spent his final role at GE Company serving as special advisor to the chairman and senior vice president of GE, providing ongoing counsel on strategy.
Stockton is a member of the board of directors for Target Corporation, Ryder System, and Deere & Company. Dmitri graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in accounting from North Carolina A&T State University in 1986. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities by the university in 2013.
Read the release here.
03 Aug 2022
As the corporate governance environment continues to evolve, Nasdaq Governance Solutions is committed to evolving with it. In 2019, Nasdaq acquired the Center for Board Excellence, expanding its suite of solutions and providing organizations with more tools—and people—to help them drive governance excellence.
Today, the Compliance & Board Advisory team plays an integral role in helping boards and leadership teams simplify governance and compliance evaluation processes, identifying growth opportunities for boards, and turning director feedback into strategic action. With years of insight and expertise, they have become an invaluable part of the Nasdaq Governance Solutions business.
Read more about perspectives on themes, trends and advisory boards here.
03 Aug 2022
Read about the Herndon Directors Institute’s program from S. Mitra Kalita’s perspective.
“The program this year felt particularly timely: Companies trading on the Nasdaq are up against an August 8 deadline to fill out a board diversity matrix. Because what we measure signals what we value, the stock exchange is sending a huge message on its priorities. By August 2023, companies must name at least one female director or someone who identifies as LGBTQ+ or non-white—or explain why they aren’t. Some already are announcing new board appointments to comply, a trend expected to pick up pace. Taylor Morrison, one of the US’s largest home-building companies, plans to begin a fellowship program to add diversity to its corporate board; fellows will be paid commensurate with other directors, although they will not have a vote.”
Find the piece here.
03 Aug 2022
Mogul research reveals only 7% of the 5,403 identified board of directors named to Fortune 500 companies are both female and non-white; launches board-ready recruitment filters to drive more progress
Mogul, Inc. one of the world’s largest resources for diverse talent, launched a nationwide initiative called “Build Better Boards” to raise awareness of the need for more diverse corporate boards. As part of the initiative, Mogul released an extensive research report that analyzes and ranks gender and ethnic diversity within the corporate board of directors across Fortune 500 publicly traded companies. In an effort to drive more immediate progress, Mogul also launched two new products aimed at increasing diversity on the Board level in addition to its existing board placement services. The new products include an exclusive private membership for Board-Ready executives and a ‘Board-Ready filter on Mogul’s innovative Talent Acquisition Platform which would allow talent teams to source diverse Board-Ready candidates from its 494M candidate base.
Read the release here.
“To date, there are not 100 diverse boards within the Fortune 500, which highlights how much work needs to be done,” said Tiffany Pham, founder, CEO, and chairman of the Board at Mogul.
26 July 2022
A new report from The Conference Board reveals that boards are increasingly electing independent board chairs. In the S&P 500, the share of independent board chairs increased from 30 percent in 2018 to 37 percent as of June 2022, while the share of companies combining the chair and CEO roles decreased from 49 percent to 44 percent. These changes are not being driven by an overriding wave of shareholder sentiment, but rather by internal governance and business reasons, including an increase in the level and scope of responsibilities of US corporate boards.
The trend toward board chair independence continues, especially at larger companies.
Read more here.
26 July 2022
Corporate boards are gradually diversifying, but in 2021, only 36% of S&P 500 and Fortune 500 companies had three or more female directors, according to Catalyst. In biotech, the percentage is even lower. In 2020, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) reported that only 18% of its members’ directors were female and 14% were people of color. BIO’s 2022 report was unable, however, to gather a sufficient sample of demographic data to analyze board demographics to assess any changes.
To learn how women and underrepresented groups can improve their chances of being asked to serve on boards of directors, BioSpace spoke with Dian Griesel, perception analyst and president of DGI & Silver Disobedience Inc., which offers consulting on how to live one’s best life at any age; and Terry Coelho, EVP, CFO and CBO of CinCor and member of the board for First Wave BioPharma.
BSP: What should a person do before pursuing or accepting a particular board position?
DG: A lot of people – women especially – get very excited when they have a chance to join a board, but they really need to ask themselves how qualified they are for that specific board. What are your capabilities? What do you know about the industry, the company and its culture? Where does your expertise tie in to that organization? That level of confidence about what you know and what you bring changes the dynamic in a boardroom quickly.
Read more here.
26 July 2022
Zoetis Inc. announced the appointment of Vanessa Broadhurst, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs at Johnson & Johnson, to its Board of Directors. Ms. Broadhurst has deep experience in consumer insights and direct-to-consumer advertising, and her appointment increases the size of the Board from 11 to 12 members. She will serve on the Board’s Quality and Innovation Committee.
Ms. Broadhurst is a member of Johnson & Johnson’s Executive Committee and leads the company’s global marketing, communication, design and philanthropy functions, in addition to having oversight of Johnson & Johnson Health & Wellness Solutions.
Prior to her appointment to the Executive Committee in 2022, Ms. Broadhurst was Company Group Chairman, Global Commercial Strategy for Pharmaceuticals. In that role, she led a team focused on commercialization and launch strategies across the company’s broad pipeline of products, spanning six therapeutic areas. Additionally, she had oversight of global value and access, global commercial data sciences, and global medical affairs across the portfolio of pharmaceutical products.
Read the release here.
12 July 2022
Goldman Sachs Foundation President Asahi Pompey discussed the need to have more overall diversity, and in particular, more Black women, on corporate boards and details what her foundation is doing to help. Pompey joined Yahoo Finance Live on July 5, 2022.
Click the link to view the video.
12 July 2022
Shenandoah Telecommunications Company announced the appointment of Victor C. Barnes to its board of directors and to its Audit Committee.
Mr. Barnes is currently the Chief of Connected Planning for Anaplan, a publicly traded business planning software company. Prior to joining Anaplan in February 2021, Mr. Barnes served The Coca-Cola Company since 1994, where he first served as an auditor and then held numerous executive financial roles, across multiple business units and countries, last serving as the Global Chief Financial Officer of their McDonald’s Division. Mr. Barnes began his professional business career in 1988 with the public accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand and also served as an auditor at The Walt Disney Company.
18 June 2022
RE/MAX Holdings, Inc., parent company of RE/MAX, one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, and Motto Mortgage, the first and only national mortgage brokerage franchise brand in the U.S., announced that its stockholders elected Annita M. Menogan to its Board of Directors.
Currently, Menogan is a board member of Children’s Hospital Colorado, a $1.5B top-10 nationally ranked children’s hospital. There, she serves on the Compliance and Business Ethics Committee, which oversees internal audit, cybersecurity, privacy, hospital and physician regulatory compliance, risk management, and licensing; the Executive Committee; and the Executive Compensation subcommittee. Menogan is also a board member of the Colorado chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and is an NACD Leadership Fellow. She is chair of the Program Committee and serves on the diversity task force, working to facilitate corporate board opportunities for diverse board candidates.
Read the release here.
30 May 2022
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated announced that Larry Quinlan was elected to serve as an independent, non-executive member of its Board of Directors at the company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders today. He will serve as a member of the Audit and Risk and Nominating, Governance & Sustainability Committees.
Currently, Quinlan serves on the board of ServiceNow. He also is a member of the non-profit boards of KIPP Charter Schools Miami and Easterseals South Florida and co-founded TechPACT, an organization focused on inclusion and equity in the technology industry. He is a frequent speaker on the topics of leadership, information technology transformation and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Read the release here.
02 May 2022
Constance Hill-Johnson is the first Black woman to be elected chair of the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Foundation, the world’s oldest community foundation and owner of $3 billion in assets.
Hill-Johnson is the owner of Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services, a national franchise, in Cleveland. Visiting Angels is an in-home service provider assisting elderly and older adults to live as independently as possible by remaining safe in their regular environments.
Read more here.
02 May 2022
Billtrust, a B2B accounts receivable automation and integrated B2B payments leader, has announced that John W. Murray has joined its Board of Directors, effective April 22, 2022. Mr. Murray will serve as a member of Billtrust’s Nominating and Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees. A technology executive, entrepreneur and investor with experience in start-up, midsize and enterprise organizations, John has a successful track record leading organizations through periods of change. John is currently a strategic advisor and consultant for The Riverside Company, a global investment firm.
Read the release here.
02 May 2022
Black workers especially have made significant strides and can express themselves and their culture without fear of retribution. Forbes‘ 2022 list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity reflects those strides. The companies below are the top 15.
Read more here.
02 May 2022
After California law mandating diverse directors was struck down, shareholders will vote on proposals that call for companies to establish boards that resemble their customer base
Two large California-based companies, Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, and Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, are facing first-of-their-kind calls from shareholders to diversify their boards even further. Wells Fargo shareholders will vote on a resolution Tuesday, while Alphabet shareholders will vote on a similar resolution at the company’s annual general meeting on June 1.
The same investment manager, Arjuna Capital, put forth both proposals, and targeted a third company with a similar resolution: Tesla Inc.
Arjuna said in its proposals that:
Read more here.
19 April 2022
Chevron Corporation announced that Rhonda Morris, chief human resources officer of Chevron, has joined the board of directors of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Morris joined the ranks of the board in March 2022.
A key member of Chevron’s Executive Leadership Team, Morris reports directly to the chairman and CEO and has responsibility for shaping and driving Chevron’s people and culture strategy, including workforce planning, leadership succession, learning and talent, diversity and inclusion, and total rewards. She serves on the board of Techbridge Girls, a non-profit organization that excites, educates and equips girls from low-income communities to achieve economic mobility and better life opportunities, and the board of Opportunity@Work, a non-profit organization designed to rewire the labor market so that everyone Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) can work, learn and earn to their full potential. Morris is also a member of the HR Policy Association Board of Directors, the Bishop O’Dowd High School Board of Regents and the BetterUp Advisory Growth Council, a group of leading business, academic and HR experts shaping the future of work.
Read more here.
19 April 2022
Being asked to join the board of directors of a public corporation is an honor. Board membership can be an enriching experience and an avenue for personal and professional growth. However, in an increasingly litigious, regulated and complex public company landscape, director candidates should conduct thoughtful and targeted due diligence on a company and its existing board practices before committing to a role that should be expected to extend over multiple years. The following are ten questions director candidates should ask themselves and the prospective company.
1. What type of commitment am I making and am I the right fit?
2. What are the internal dynamics of the board and are there any cultural considerations that warrant special attention?
3. What is the relationship between senior management and the board and what type of information flow does the board receive from senior management?
4. How is the company performing operationally and financially and what are the company’s most material risks?
5. What is management’s approach to internal controls compliance and who are the company’s auditors?
6. What confidentiality and conflict of interest obligations will apply during and after my board service?
7. What sort of protections from legal risks will I be afforded as a director?
8. In addition to the structural director protections against financial exposure described above, what are the practical protections against both financial and reputational exposure I may face as a director?
9. What sort of “onboarding” or orientation process is in place?
10. How will my service as a board member be compensated?
Read the full article here.
5 Apr 2022
MetLife, Inc. announced that Carla Harris has been elected to its board of directors, effective April 27, 2022.
Harris is a senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley, where she serves as co-portfolio manager of the Next Level Fund; works closely with the Multicultural Innovation Lab, which she helped found; hosts the award-winning “Access and Opportunity” podcast; and advises on client matters. Prior, she led Morgan Stanley’s Emerging Manager Platform, the equity capital markets effort for the consumer and retail industries, and was responsible for equity private placements.
Read the release here.
03 Apr 2022
During the 2022 BLACK ENTERPRISE Women of Power Summit in Las Vegas, March 24-26, Edith Cooper, member of Board of Directors Pepsi Co, Amazon & EQT and Co-Founder, Medley, a membership-based community for personal and professional growth and Gale V. King, Corporate Director and former Executive Vice-President Chief Administrative Officer Nationwide, shared how they made it to the boardroom and how they’re changing the corporate landscape from the top.
During the session, The Seat of Power – Getting on Corporate Boards, Cooper talked candidly about how her personal North Star helped her achieve so many of her accomplishments.
Read more here.
03 April 2022
AT&T has named its seven appointees to the Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Board of Directors as it prepares to spin off WarnerMedia and combine it with Discovery, Inc.
As announced in May 2021, the Warner Bros. Discovery Board will consist of 13 members, with six chosen by Discovery and seven chosen by AT&T, including the Chairman of the Board.
Of the seven, two are African-American women.
Debra L. Lee
Lee has extensive leadership experience in the media and entertainment industry, previously serving as chair and CEO of BET Networks from 2006 until her retirement in 2018 after a 32-year career there. She is also the founder and chair of Leading Women Defined Foundation, a nonprofit education and advocacy organization dedicated to empowering African American women. She will bring strong operational and transformational skills to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board through her background in cultivating world-class talent, developing innovative strategic plans and executing complex initiatives within the media sector. She will also bring significant experience as a public company director to the deliberations of the Warner Bros. Discovery Board.
Paula A. Price
Price was most recently the executive vice president and CFO of Macy’s, Inc. from July 2018 to May 2020. Prior to that, she was a full-time senior lecturer at Harvard Business School. She has also held senior leadership positions at grocery retailer Ahold (as CFO of the U.S. business), CVS Caremark (as controller and chief accounting officer) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (as CFO of the Institutional Trust Services division). She is a financial expert, whose broad experience across finance, general management and strategy will provide a unique perspective for the Warner Bros. Discovery Board, stemming from her time as a CFO, a Harvard Business School faculty member and as a director of other public company boards.
Read the release here.
11 Mar 2022
Key Points
Company leaders are being pressed from every side to explain how they plan to attract and retain the talent they need amid rampant job reshuffling. They’re increasingly turning to members of their board for that guidance.
Research shows that companies are welcoming more directors who have actual human resources experience into the boardroom. For decades, the composition of most corporate boards leaned heavily towards current and former CEOs, CFOs, lawyers and academics. The folks managing the talent — CHROs, chief people officers, and others — were rarely at the table.
Read more here.
11 Mar 2022
Banner Corporation, the parent company of Banner Bank (“Bank”), announced that Margot James Copeland was appointed to the Board of Directors. Copeland was also appointed to the Board of Directors of Banner Bank.
Copeland specializes in developing strategies in the areas of workforce development and management, leadership, diversity & inclusion, philanthropy, and community outreach & engagement. She has over 20 years of experience, with her previous positions being at KeyBank and KeyBank Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio.
Read more here.
11 Mar 2022
Wheels Up, the leading brand in private aviation, announced that Delta Air Lines Senior Vice President Dwight James has joined its Board of Directors.
James currently serves as Delta’s senior vice president — Customer Engagement and Loyalty, as well as the CEO of Delta Vacations. During his nearly 13-year career at Delta, James has served in several senior roles, including SVP — Pricing and Revenue Management and SVP — International Pricing & Revenue Management. Prior to Delta, he held roles in corporate strategy, business development and M&A functions at The Home Depot and Deloitte Consulting.
Read the article here.
11 Mar 2022
According to a Prada press release, Pamela Culpepper has been appointed as an independent non-exclusive director of Prada S.p.A. along with Anna Maria Rugarli.
The pair were selected based on their professional backgrounds in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and will provide the luxury brand’s board members with sustainability assessments and any decisions based on the three courses of action.
Read more here.
21 Feb 2022
California has achieved a noteworthy milestone: It is the first state to have 30% female representation in the boardrooms of publicly traded companies with principal executive offices located in California. This progress has been made possible with the passing of SB826 and AB979, which mandated board representation for women and underrepresented individuals. Though board diversity is important in terms of demographic representation, it is also highly beneficial, as supported by research published at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan Review.
Even with these proven benefits, diversity mandates from financial institutions, and California’s 30% representation milestone, more work still needs to be done as additional women and underrepresented groups have yet to be onboarded.
Read more here.
09 Feb 2022
Black Women on Boards (BWOB), a new global organization that removes the invisible obstacles that Black female executives face when pursuing board membership, today announced a new cohort-based board accelerator program for its members with the support of founding partnerships with DCVC, Diligent, Felicis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and Sapphire Ventures.
Read the details here.
09 Feb 2022
Tivity Health, Inc. a leading provider of health improvement solutions, announced the appointment of Stephanie Davis Michelman as an independent director to its Board of Directors. Michelman, most recently Vice President/General Manager, of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics (Estée Lauder Companies), has over 15 years’ experience driving growth and profitability in public and private companies, working to expand several of the most well-known consumer brands.
Read more here.
09 Feb 2022
IQVIA announced the appointment of Sheila A. Stamps to its board of directors, effective today. Ms. Stamps brings more than four decades of strategic, governance and operational management experience. During her extensive career she held senior executive leadership positions in both public and private sector organizations, most recently as a senior investment advisor to the Comptroller of the State of New York for the NYS Common Retirement Fund and as Commissioner on the board of the New York State Insurance Fund, the state’s largest provider of worker’s compensation insurance. Prior to this, she was a Managing Director at Bank of America and Managing Director and Executive Management Committee Member at Bank One London (now, JPMorgan Chase).
Read the release here.
09 Feb 2022
Lytx® Inc. announced the appointment of Wayne Hewett to its board of directors.
Hewett currently serves as a board member of United Parcel Service Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., and The Home Depot Inc., and is chairman of Cambrex Corp, according to a press release. He is an experienced global chief executive officer and board director skilled in: board governance, operations management, international business, emerging markets, operational excellence, supply chain, sourcing, team building, strategy, merger integration, leadership and Six Sigma. Hewett has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Stanford University.
Read more here.
25 Jan 2022
McKesson Corporation announced that McKesson board of directors elected Kathleen Wilson-Thompson as a new director on Jan. 13, 2022. McKesson expects that the board will appoint Wilson-Thompson to the Compensation Committee and Governance Committee. With the election of Hinton and Wilson-Thompson, McKesson’s board of directors increases from 9 to 11 members.
Most recently, Wilson-Thompson held the role of executive vice president and global chief human resources officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance where she led the human capital strategy including merger integration and HR transformation through digitization. After earning her J.D. and L.L.M. in corporate and finance law from Wayne State University, Wilson-Thompson joined the Kellogg Company in various legal and operation roles and later was named senior vice president of global human resources. Additionally, Wilson-Thompson serves on the boards of Tesla, Inc. and Wolverine Worldwide and is on the board of directors of the University of Michigan Alumni association and a member of the board of trustees of the NAACP Foundation.
Read the release here.
25 Jan 2022
In a history-making move, President Joe Biden announced the nominations of three people for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. His selection includes a Black woman, who if selected would be the Fed’s first Black woman board member.
Two of the nominees – Lisa Cook and Phillip Jefferson — are African Americans. Another nominee is Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed and Treasury official. The nominees would have to be confirmed by the Senate and would compete the Fed’s seven-member board, ABC News reported.
Read the full article here.
11 Jan 2022
When you join the board of a public company, you are making a long-term commitment that carries with it the risk of tarnishing your professional reputation if things go seriously wrong. You might also have to endure the burden of protracted litigation.
There is even the possibility of unlimited personal liability. Thus, before joining a board, a systematic approach to conducting your diligence on the company is in order.
Due Diligence Before Joining a Board
These questions have been compiled with the benefit of hindsight after having worked with boards where things have gone well … and with boards where things have not gone so well.
1. What does the role of a director entail?
There are a lot of very seasoned senior executives that have not spent much time in the boardroom. Knowing what is the role of a board member versus an operating executive is very important. It isn’t for everyone. If you are unsure, talk to some seasoned board members so that you can get up to speed quickly.
2. How much of your time will serving on a board take?
As we’ve seen over time, the demands on board members are only increasing. Data in recent years shows that board members spend an average of about 250 hours per year per board seat. That number can go up depending on the exact role on the board as well.
3. What is the risk environment?
You will want to understand the risks that come with being a director in general, and also the risks of the company and industry.
4. What is the board’s culture like?
Different boards have different internal dynamics and different cultures. As you are interviewing, find out if the culture is a good fit.
Read the full article here.
11 Jan 2022
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that René F. Jones, chairman and chief executive officer of M&T Bank Corp., has been elected as a Class A director representing Group 1, which consists of banks with capital and surplus of more than $2 billion. Mr. Jones will serve a three-year term ending December 31, 2024.
Before being named chairman and CEO of M&T, Mr. Jones served as chief financial officer, responsible for managing all of the company’s financial operations. Prior to joining M&T, Mr. Jones worked at the Boston-based office of Ernst & Young, and previously at a private equity firm.
Mr. Jones currently serves on the boards of ACV Auctions, Boston College, the Jacobs Institute, Burchfield Penney Art Center, and the Massachusetts Historical Society, as well as the advisory councils for the University at Buffalo. He also serves as a steward of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism and on the capital advisory committee of Aux21. He also served on the Board of Governors Federal Advisory Council as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York representative.
Read the article here.
11 Jan 2022
Diversity in corporate hiring has become more than a social imperative. Today, many companies see workforce diversity as a strategy to help attract and retain talent, enhance intellectual capital and drive long-term value creation. But how does diversity in the boardroom affect financial performance? A new study by Calvert Research and Management, a unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has some answers.
According to the study, which analyzed more than 800 large-cap companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia from 2012 to 2020, companies with greater board diversity may in fact be better stock picks.
“Our research suggests that using racial and ethnic board diversity factors can improve U.S. large-cap equity stock selection,” says Yijia Chen, ESG Quantitative Research Analyst and Index Manager at Calvert, who wrote the report. “There may be additional benefit in tilting toward more diverse companies across all four developed markets.”
Read more here.
11 Jan 2022
CopperPoint Insurance Companies, a western-based super regional commercial insurance company, announced January 7 that Michael Mathias has been appointed to the CopperPoint Insurance Company Board of Directors, effective immediately.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Mr. Mathias is a proven leader in the insurance industry. He recently retired from Blue Shield of California, a 4.3-million-member nonprofit health plan that serves the state’s commercial, individual, and government markets, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Before joining Blue Shield in 2013, Mr. Mathias held numerous technology leadership roles with Aetna in Hartford, CT.
Read more here.
02 Jan 2022
Spiraling to new heights, Renee Rhem has been named to the Subaru of America Executive Team. Her appointment makes her the first African American woman to hold a C-Suite position at Subaru.
Vice president of customer advocacy and an executive team member, Rhem runs the Subaru customer experience across all channels. That ensures the Subaru Love Promise is present at all interactions with Subaru customers, the automaker announced. She reports directly to Thomas J. Doll, president and CEO at Subaru of America Inc.
Read more here.
01 Jan 2022
When it comes to corporate board representation, 2021 was a record-setting year for Black women.
The number of S&P 500 seats held by those women rose over 25% this year, up from a 16% gain in 2020, a new report by data and analytics provider ISS Corporate Solutions reveals, per Bloomberg.com
The uptick was reportedly fueled by an extraordinary number of new Black women directors, helping them gain a record share of the seats. Some 168 Black women hold 231 spots of the over 5,500 seats at S&P 500 companies this year, Bloomberg.com reported. Yet even with the gain, they still only hold 4% of S&P 500 board seats.
Read the article here.
22 Dec 2021
MFA Financial, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has elected Sheila A. Stamps to its Board effective immediately.
Ms. Stamps currently serves on the Board of Directors of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a leading global provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services, where she also serves as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee, and Pitney Bowes Inc., a global shipping and mailing company that provides services to businesses and governments, where she also serves on the Audit and Executive Compensation Committees. Ms. Stamps also serves on the Board of CIT Group, Inc., a financial holding company, where she serves as a member of the Audit and Nominating & Governance Committees, as well as a member of the Board of CIT’s subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A. Ms. Stamps was also recently named to Savoy Magazine’s 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors.
Read the release here.
20 Dec 2021
Utz Brands, Inc., a leading U.S. manufacturer of branded salty snacks announced today that Pamela Stewart has been appointed as a Director on the Utz Board of Directors (“Board”). In this role, Ms. Stewart will also serve on the Board’s Compensation Committee and provide strategic input to the Utz management team.
Ms. Stewart is the President, West Zone Operations, North America Operating Unit of The Coca-Cola Company. During her 20-plus year tenure at Coca-Cola, Ms. Stewart has held leadership positions across finance, revenue growth management, sales, operations, and general management. Ms. Stewart brings a wide range of food and beverage experiences, particularly in working with major retailers and developing new business. Ms. Stewart received a B.B.A. from Georgia State University and an M.B.A. from Oglethorpe University.
Read the release here.
11 Dec 2021
Sharon Bowen was named as chair of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), its parent company announced, becoming the first Black woman to hold the role at the Wall Street fixture.
Bowen, who is already a member of the boards of ICE and the NYSE, served from 2014 to 2017 as a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission overseeing futures markets.
In 2010, then-president Barack Obama named her to a vice chair of the body regulating US broker-dealers, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
Read the article here.
11 Dec 2021
Callaway Golf Company announced that it has increased the size of the Company’s Board of Directors from twelve to thirteen members, and that Bavan M. Holloway has been appointed to the Board. She will begin serving immediately and will stand for election for a full one-year term at the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Read the release here.
11 Dec 2021
StockX announced the appointment of its newest board member and Audit Committee Chair, Robin Washington. Washington will be an essential advisor to StockX as the company continues to expand internationally, strategically diversify its catalog, and cement its position as the trusted global platform for consuming and trading current culture.
Read the release here.
21 Nov 2021
The Silicon Valley Executive Center (SVEC) at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business announced the third cohort of its pioneering Black Corporate Board Readiness (BCBR) program, which welcomed its first cohort in February.
“Three full cohorts of highly talented and qualified Black leaders in the first year of the BCBR program is evidence that there is no ‘pipeline problem’ when it comes to corporate board diversity,” said Dennis Lanham, executive director of SVEC and co-founder of the BCBR program. “We are delighted that so many participants from the first two cohorts are already landing public and private corporate board seats.”
Read the release here.
21 Nov 2021
Karen Pavlin has been named North America Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) Lead at Accenture. She also was named a managing director at Accenture’s Northeast (NE) market unit. In her North America role, Pavlin will lead the firm’s efforts to advance change and continue accelerating equality for all at Accenture, one of the world’s largest consulting firms.
Before her current position, Pavlin led account strategies to drive large-scale transformation, thought leadership, and innovation for the firm’s top financial services and communication, media, and technology (CMT) clients.
Read more here.
21 Nov 2021
Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated announced it has added William A. (Bill) Borden, corporate vice president of worldwide financial services for Microsoft Corp., to its board of directors. A veteran leader in the global financial services industry, Borden brings a wealth of experience to Diebold Nixdorf’s board.
For more than 20 years during his career, he has held various senior leadership positions at some of the largest banking institutions in the United States, including Bank of America and Citigroup. As Microsoft’s thought leader in financial services, he is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s global financial services strategy, supporting its customers in their digital transformation journeys.
Read more here.
4 Nov 2021
Savoy magazine announced the release of its 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors listing in the upcoming fall issue. Savoy’s fall issue features a directory of 704 directors serving on the boards of public companies. As the leading business magazine reporting on African American success and achievement, Savoy’s Most Influential Black Corporate directory is a prestigious listing of executives, influencers, and achievers active on the boards of the world’s leading corporations and organizations.
Read the release here.
04 Nov 2021
There is no doubt that a diverse workforce equates to new ideas and an inclusive environment. However, initiatives to bring diversity in boardrooms are lagging. In the U.S, boards are predominantly white with less than one fourth of newly elected directors being minorities. Among the global Fortune 500 companies, visible minority women represent less than 5 percent of board seats. There is a lack of age diversity as well. Young professionals are underrepresented in boardrooms as the average age of directors is 63 years.
To understand why the lack of board diversity persists, there is a need to assess how boards are formed in the first place. Traditionally, the process of recruiting candidates and filling board seats occurs through personal networks or word of mouth referrals. While personal references can attest to skills and instill trust, it is not an objective method.
Read the article here.
25 Oct 2021
Fortune 500 companies added 425 new board directors in 2020, showing a large rise in new Black directors, although other underrepresented groups saw little or no progress, according to research by executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
The share of new Black directors rose from 10% in 2019 to 28% in 2020. The share of new Latinx directors decreased by one percent and the share of female directors decreased three percent. As a result, Heidrick & Struggles shifted its forecast for gender equality among new Fortune 500 board appointments from 2022 to 2023.“These smaller shifts among various aspects of diversity suggest that, at least on the margins, some boards are making trade-offs among diverse candidates based on where society is focusing in terms of diversity, rather than strategically considering what types of diversity will add the most value to the board over time,” the report said.
Read more here.
25 Oct 2021
Black people made record-breaking gains over the last year in securing seats on boards of S&P 500 companies, while women came close to accounting for a third of corporate directors, according to a report from executive search firm Spencer Stuart.
Ethnic and racial minorities accounted for 47% of all new directors, compared to 22% in the prior year, according to the report. Nearly all of the increase came from the appointment of Black directors, who made up 33% of new board seats from May of 2020 through May of 2021, up from 11% in the prior period.
Read the article here.
04 Oct 2021
In 2022, companies listed on Nasdaq’s US exchange will be required to publicly disclose their directors’ identities, including their gender, race, and ethnicity. Nasdaq’s board-diversity rule says that if a company fails to have at least two diverse directors, including one who identifies as a woman and one who identifies as either an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+ person, it will need to publicly explain the reason.
Click here to read more about 9 recommended diverse leaders companies should consider for 2022 board seats.
04 Oct 2021
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said he would welcome the appointment of a Black woman to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for the first time.
“I would strongly agree” that a wider range of “voices” on the Fed board would enhance the central bank’s mission, Powell said in response to a question from the head of the Senate Banking Committee during a hearing. No Black woman has ever been appointed to the Fed’s seven-member board.
Powell’s sentiment was echoed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was appearing alongside the Fed chief during a hearing about the two agencies’ actions during the coronavirus pandemic. “I think diversity is very important,” Yellen said.
Read the story here.
4 Oct 2021
The IBM board of directors has elected Al Zollar to the board, effective October 25, 2021.
Al Zollar, 67, a former director of Red Hat, brings deep technical knowledge and experience to the IBM board. Since 2014, he has applied his expertise as a technology investor working with cloud-based technology providers, leading providers of enterprise security solutions and other technology and software-as-a-service companies. This followed a 34-year career where he held various leadership positions in IBM’s software and systems groups. He is also a member of the board of directors of Nasdaq, Bank of New York Mellon and Public Service Enterprise Group.
Read the release here.
27 Sep 2021
Ebony Twilley Martin is the first Black woman executive director of a national legacy environmental organization in the United States. Greenpeace USA announced earlier this month that Twilley Martin will join Annie Leonard as co-executive director of the organization,.
Before Twilley Martin was COO, she was Greenpeace’s first Black woman chief officer of people and culture. She also served its senior talent acquisition manager and director of human resources, both in 2014.
Read more here.
27 Sep 2021
D. Steve Boland is chief administrative officer for Bank of America, and is a member of the company’s executive management team.
In this role, Boland oversees the delivery of the company’s full range of capabilities for clients through its local markets organization including more than 90 market presidents and teams; Public Policy; Environmental, Social & Governance; Corporate & Internal Communications, External Communications, Global Sports Sponsorships, Corporate Security and other related functions.
Boland is also one of the vice-chairs for the company’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council. He represents Bank of America as a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), is on the Novant Health Foundation Board, the National Urban League Board of Trustees and the Greater Charlotte Cultural Trust Board.
Read the article here.
27 Sep 2021
Amazon has added former Goldman Sachs exec Edith Cooper to its board of directors.
Cooper previously served on the board of Slack from January 2018 to this past July. She was also on the board of Etsy, an Amazon e-commerce rival, from April 2018 until this month.
Cooper was the first Black woman to become a partner at Goldman Sachs and is co-founder of Medley, a new membership-based community for personal and professional growth. She’s the third Black woman to join Amazon’s board, following former Starbucks exec Rosalind Brewer, who left the board this year after taking a role as Walgreens CEO, and pharmaceutical executive Myrtle Potter, who served from 2004 to 2009.
Read more here.
27 Sep 2021
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story and headline incorrectly stated that Walmart had not recently hired any people of color to fill executive management roles or board of director vacancies. Walmart has, in fact, hired several people of color for those roles in recent months. A previous version of this story also incorrectly stated that Dacona Smith was the most recent executive African American to join Walmart’s executive leadership team. In fact, at least two African-American officers, including John Wigneswaran and Jennifer R. Jackson, were hired more recently. The story and headline have been corrected and updated with additional context.
Read corrected version of the article here.
12 Sep 2021
Cerner Corporation, a global healthcare technology company, announced Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, M.D. (Retired), and member of the Cerner board of directors, was named to Savoy Magazine’s 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors for his achievements and contributions to business and innovation. A leading business magazine, reporting on African American success and achievement, released the listing in their fall 2021 edition.
Dr. Granger is president and CEO of THE 5Ps, LLC, a healthcare, education and leadership consulting organization. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2009, where he served as the deputy director and program executive officer of the TRICARE Management Activity, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), Washington, D.C. In this role, he was the principal adviser to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) on DOD health plan policy and performance. He oversaw the acquisition, operation and integration of TRICARE/DOD’s managed care program within the Military Health System. Before joining TRICARE Management Activity, Dr. Granger led the largest U.S. and multinational battlefield health system in recent history while serving as Commander, Task Force 44th Medical Command and Command Surgeon for the Multinational Corps Iraq.
Read more here.
12 Sep 2021
Snagajob recently announced that it has joined The Board Challenge, a movement to accelerate representation for Black leaders on the boards of U.S. companies. By joining The Board Challenge, Snagajob commits to adding a Black director to its board within the next 12 months. “We know board diversity is a strategic advantage, and believe a variety of perspectives enhances board performance and company success,” adds Stevenson. “Snagajob is excited to partner with the Board Challenge to be part of the movement to increase Black director representation on our own board, while encouraging others to do the same.”
Read more here.
12 Sep 2021
Sheila G. Talton, Board Member and Chair of Sysco’s Technology Committee, is tacking on another title, as she has been named as one of 2021’s Most Influential Black Corporate Directors.
Currently, Talton serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Gray Matter Analytics, a firm focused on data analytics consulting services in the healthcare industry.
In addition to Talton’s recent achievement, she was also a Congressional appointee to the U.S. White House Women’s Business Council. Talton has also been recognized as one of the “Top 10 Women in Technology” by Enterprising Women and as “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the National Federation of Black Women Business Owners.
Read the article here.
29 Aug 2021
Capital One Financial Corporation announced the addition of two new members to its Board of Directors. Ime Archibong, Head of New Product Experimentation (NPE) at Facebook, and Craig Williams, President of Jordan Brand at Nike, have been appointed to fill two new seats on the Board.
Ime Archibong is Head of New Product Experimentation at Facebook where he leads an internal group of entrepreneurs building and testing new mobile applications and product experiences. Previously, Archibong was Vice President of Product Partnerships at Facebook where, for nearly a decade, he built and scaled the global team that manages strategic partnerships with consumer technology companies, platform developers, community leaders, and nonprofits.
Craig Williams has more than 30 years of experience leading international consumer brands, business operations and strategy. He is a member of the senior executive team at Nike, where Williams serves as President of Jordan Brand. In this role, he leads the global vision, strategy and growth of its multi-billion dollar portfolio. Prior to joining Jordan Brand, Williams was Senior Vice President, The Coca-Cola Co. and President of The McDonald’s Division (TMD) Worldwide, where he was responsible for leading and growing the company’s strategic partnership with McDonald’s in more than 100 countries.
Read the release here.
21 Aug 2021
FuelCell Energy, Inc., a global leader in fuel cell technology with a purpose of utilizing its proprietary, state-of-the-art fuel cell platforms to enable a world empowered by clean energy— today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Donna Sims Wilson to serve as a new independent director.
“Donna brings more than three and a half decades of financial industry experience, an essential aspect to FuelCell Energy’s business model,” said Jason Few, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of FuelCell Energy. “Donna has a proven track record of growing firms through the launch of business extensions, new products, and mergers and acquisitions. These experiences, along with her extensive history with international markets, working with legislators around the world, and securing financing through the EXIM Bank and the USTDA among others, make Donna a tremendous addition to FuelCell Energy.”
Read more here.
21 Aug 2021
TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced that its board of directors elected four new Executive Officers at its annual election and welcomed a number of new members. The newly appointed chair of the board is Morgan State University’s (MSU) Omar Muhammad, replacing Myra Norton, CEO of Arena Analytics.
“Omar brings many years of experience leading support for Maryland’s entrepreneurs. His service as board chair for TEDCO will be a gift both to TEDCO and to the State” said Myra Norton, former chair of the board, and CEO of Arena Analytics. “I’m looking forward to seeing this new board leadership continue building the organization for its next stage of growth in service of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Maryland.”
Read the release here.
21 Aug 2021
The roles and responsibilities of members of the board of directors of private companies are generally dictated by the fiduciary duties that such directors owe to the corporation and its stockholders. The roles and responsibilities of directors are determined by the statutes and laws of the state of incorporation and the governing documents of the company. Because each state has different statutory requirements and applicable laws, the roles and responsibilities of directors can vary.
Board Member duties are defined under corporate law. The ability of the board to modify or abridge those duties is limited and must be set forth in the company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws.
The board’s decision to grant compensation to a director for their service will likely depend on the type of company and the particular director. Generally, compensation is only provided to independent, non-employee directors serving on the board of private companies. Additionally, director compensation usually is made in the form of options to acquire shares of stock of the company, which typically vest on a quarterly basis over two to three years of service as a director. Cash compensation is unusual, other than as reimbursement for expenses related to the director’s attendance at board or committee meetings.
Read the full article here.
15 Aug 2021
A recent report revealed some disappointing news: Not a single Fortune 500 board is representative of the U.S. population in terms of gender and ethnicity, and, in 2020, minorities held just 18% of Fortune 500 board seats.
Furthermore, the average growth in minority representation on Fortune 500 boards — a paltry 0.5% per year — has not changed since 2004. At that rate, the report’s authors estimate it would take another 50 years for minorities to hold 40% of board seats in corporate America.
In the face of an increasingly strong business case for diverse boards, as well as mounting pressure from institutional investors, the data demonstrates just how far we have to go.
Read more here.
15 Aug 2021
Haemonetics Corporation, a global medical technology company focused on delivering innovative medical solutions to drive better patient outcomes, announced the election of Lloyd E. Johnson to its Board of Directors. In addition, the company announced that Ellen Zane will serve as the new independent Chair of Haemonetics’ Board of Directors.
Johnson served as Global Managing Director, Finance and Internal Audit at Accenture Corporation from 2004 until his retirement in 2015, where he led the global management consulting company’s audit organization and provided strategic leadership in finance, risk, compliance and governance. Prior to joining Accenture, Johnson served as Executive Director, M&A and General Auditor for Delphi Automotive PLC, a global automotive technology industry leader. He has also held senior financial leadership positions at Emerson Electric Corporation, Sara Lee Corporation and Shaw Food Services. Johnson currently serves on the boards of Apogee Enterprises, Inc.; Beazer Homes USA, Inc.; AARP, where he is second Vice Chair; and the NACD Carolinas Chapter.
Read the release here.
15 Aug 2021
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposal from stock exchange operator Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) that requires its listed companies to have diverse boards, or explain why they do not.
The proposal requires that companies have two diverse directors, including one who identifies as female and another as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+, or explain why they do not. Companies also have to publicly disclose the diversity of their boards.
“These rules will allow investors to gain a better understanding of Nasdaq-listed companies’ approach to board diversity,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a prepared statement.
Nasdaq said it is looking “forward to working with our companies to implement this new listing rule and set a new standard for corporate governance.”
Read the article here.
4 May 2021
California companies are scrambling to bring on diverse board members ahead of a new state law’s end-of-year deadline, but recruiting women of color has proven a challenge for many.
The state now requires companies with six directors or more to have at least three female board directors by the end of 2021. Another law requires all public companies headquartered in California to have at least one minority or “underrepresented community” director by the same deadline.
About 28% of the board directors at Russell 3000 Index companies in California are women, but only 1% of those women-held seats are by Latinas, according to data from Equilar, a corporate board data firm.
“We’re invisible in the boardroom,” said Esther Aguilera, president and CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association. The group’s members include approximately 300 Latinos from the public and private sectors.
Other groups are also struggling to make gains as the California deadlines approach. Black and Middle Eastern women make up 2% and 0.2% of board seats respectively, while Asian/Pacific Islander women have the most representation at 3.1%, Equilar found. Nearly 20% of female directors didn’t identify their race or ethnicity, Equilar said.
Read more here.
4 May 2021
The emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the boardroom is shaping up to be a permanent reframing of all that boards do and, more broadly, how companies approach corporate governance writ large. Though this emphasis has been steadily increasing over the past several years, the events of 2020 have accelerated ongoing discussions and efforts, and public boards should expect increased pressure from stakeholders — if not explicit action taken against them — if real progress is not achieved.
Part of that pressure will come in the form of legislation and regulation. In the fall of 2020, California was the first state to enact legislation requiring public companies headquartered in the state to have at least one board member from an underrepresented community by the end of 2021. Nasdaq’s newly proposed listing requirement has a similar mandate and is expected to be approved by the SEC. These regulations will likely use census definitions of diversity when assessing compliance, as California has.
While these mandates may be unpopular with some commentators, the push for greater diversity is largely well received by stakeholder groups, and particularly by employees. One reason is that the workforce is increasingly diverse, and these initiatives respond to their call for better representation.
Read the opinion piece here.
4 Aug 2021
ServiceNow the leading workflow company that makes work, work better for people, announced the appointment of former Deloitte CIO Larry Quinlan to its board of directors, bringing the total number of directors on ServiceNow’s board to 11.
As Global Chief Information Officer at Deloitte, LLP, Larry was responsible for all facets of technology, strategy, cyber and operations, overseeing the more than $2 billion technology organization with more than 10,000 IT professionals in 175 countries. In addition to his CIO role, Larry drives significant revenue leading Deloitte services to Fortune 500 global clients in the hospitality and technology sectors. As lead partner for some of the world’s largest companies in the sector, he has advised outside boards and CEOs on a wide range of IT, cybersecurity, and strategic digital priorities. Larry also leads the Deloitte CIO Academy, a program that provides leadership development to major client senior technology leaders aspiring to the corporate CIO role.
Read the release here.
29 Jul 2021
Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and engineering to drive digital innovation, announced that Gina Loften has been appointed to its board of directors.
Gina Loften was most recently the chief technology officer for Microsoft US. Previously, Gina has held executive positions in research, development, sales and consulting services at both International Business Machines (IBM) and Microsoft, Inc.
Gina is an independent board director for the public company TTEC Holdings, Inc. and the private company Foursquare. Active in her community, Gina is also on the board of the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina. She has previously served on the boards of George Mason Research Foundation, Rise Against Hunger and on the advisory council for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. Gina’s work and leadership has been recognized in US Black Engineer, ExecutiveGov, NC Business magazine and Diversity Woman magazine, as one of “The Elite 100” in corporate America. Gina has also been published addressing topics as diverse as how artificial intelligence can help mental health among veterans, the true value of data for government and how open source can bring agencies to the cloud.
Read the release here.
29 Jul 2021
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. a global entertainment, sports and content company, today announced Ursula Burns, former Chair and CEO of Xerox Corporation and VEON Ltd., has joined its Board of Directors.
Burns became CEO of Xerox in 2009 after joining the organization more than 25 years prior as a mechanical engineer. As CEO, she led the company through its most transformative period, moving from the leader in document technology to a truly diversified global business services company.
Read the release here.
19 Jul 2021
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, corporate America pledged to do better, saying it would diversify its leadership, encourage equity and take concrete actions to root out systemic racism.
But a USA TODAY analysis of previously undisclosed hiring records from dozens of top firms found that more than a year later, executive roles remain overwhelmingly white and male. Black and Hispanic workers, particularly women, tend to be concentrated in the lowest ranks, and some of the nation’s most powerful brands still refuse to disclose data on the gender, ethnic and racial makeup of their workforce.
The eight-part series combed the records of the Standard & Poor’s 100, some of the most highly valued companies in the stock market.
Read more here.
06 Jul 2021
Terminix Global Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of residential and commercial pest control, announced the appointment of Teresa M. Sebastian to its board of directors. Sebastian joined the board’s compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees and Terrill joined the audit and environmental, health and safety committees.
Ms. Sebastian brings to Terminix’s board relevant experience in the areas of multi-unit distributed services, executive leadership, strategic planning and experience on other public and private company boards. She has served as president and chief executive officer of The Dominion Asset Group, a venture capital firm that focuses on urban real estate and commercial ventures, since 2015. She previously held leadership positions at Darden Restaurants, Inc., Veyance Technologies, Inc., and Information Resources, Inc. Since 2019, she has served on the board of Kaiser Aluminum Corp., a company that specializes in the production of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products, for aerospace and high strength automotive, general engineering, and industrial applications. Ms. Sebastian also serves as a director for several companies, including The AES Corporation, a publicly traded, global energy company; Juul Labs, Inc., a privately held electronic vapor products company; and Assemble Sound LLC, a privately held music licensing, recording, production and artist management company.
Read the release here.
25 Jun 2021
Regions Financial Corp. announced Joia M. Johnson has been appointed to the boards of Regions Financial Corp. and its subsidiary, Regions Bank, effective July 20, 2021. Ms. Johnson will serve on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Risk Committee of the Boards.
An experienced corporate executive, as well as public and private company director, Ms. Johnson recently retired as chief administrative officer, general counsel, and corporate secretary for Hanesbrands Inc., a leading apparel manufacturer and marketer. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., Ms. Johnson’s leadership position with Hanesbrands included serving as executive leader for the Hanesbrands Board of Directors’ Compensation Committee as well as the Board’s Governance and Nominating Committee. She also oversaw legal, corporate social responsibility, human resources, real estate, and government/trade relations functions for the company.
Read the release here.
25 Jun 2021
Genius Brands International, Inc. a global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia entertainment content for children, today announced the appointment of Dr. Cynthia Turner-Graham to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Cynthia Turner-Graham, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, who brings over 40 years of experience in the healthcare industry as a practicing psychiatrist, healthcare administrator and community leader. Among her accomplishments, Dr. Turner-Graham is the immediate past president of the Suburban Maryland Psychiatric Society, served as a Director of the Washington Psychiatric Society. and will take the helm of Black Psychiatrists of America as President in 2022. She has served as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at both Vanderbilt University and Howard University Schools of Medicine.
Read more here.
19 Jun 2021
Twitter, Inc. announced the appointment of Mimi Alemayehou to the Company’s Board of Directors as a new independent director, effective immediately.
“Mimi’s extensive experience overseeing growth in emerging markets in both the public and private sectors will be invaluable as we advance Twitter’s mission to serve the public conversation across the world,” said Patrick Pichette, independent chair of the Twitter Board. “Mimi shares our commitment to social responsibility and strengthening global communities, and we’re eager to benefit from her perspective and regional expertise as we expand Twitter’s presence to Ghana and invest in improving our service across Africa and other regions.”
Read the release here.
19 Jun 2021
KEY POINTS
Read the full article here.
19 Jun 2021
At a time when businesses are pledging to be more inclusive amid a national reckoning on race, the boards of Fortune 500 companies are getting more diverse. But progress is slow, the appointments of white women greatly outnumber those of people of color, and companies tap the same small pool of candidates again and again, according to a new report.
The number of Fortune 500 businesses whose boards are more than 40% female and people of color has nearly quadrupled since 2010, according to the sixth edition of the “Missing Pieces Report,” compiled by the Alliance for Board Diversity and the consultancy Deloitte.
Additionally, in 2020, the percentage of directors who were women or people of color rose to slightly more than 38% from 34% in 2018.
But board diversity has inched up less than 0.5% a year on average since 2004, a pace that means it will take another 53 years before women and people of color hold 40% of all Fortune 500 company board seats, a benchmark set by the Alliance for Board Diversity.
Read more here.
7 Jun 2021
Law firm Perkins Coie announced Wednesday an initiative to increase the number of Black men and women on S&P 500 corporate boards to one in eight by 2028. The program, dubbed the Black Boardroom Initiative, is backed by Deloitte, Amazon, Microsoft, and Zillow. Twenty-three executives are currently in the program from various industries and professional backgrounds.
Executives who are corporate-board ready will be given training and networking opportunities through a six-month programs. Members of the initiative will have the chance to meet with current board members, CEOs, and investors.
Black people make up 13% of the population, but 37% of S&P 500 corporations did not have any Black board members in 2019, according to Perkins Coie.
Taking meaningful action on racism and diversity inclusion must start at the top, said Bill Malley, Perkins Coie’s firmwide managing partner.
Read more here.
7 Jun 2021
Altair, a global technology company providing solutions in simulation, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI) announced that Jim F. Anderson was elected to Altair’s board of directors at the June 2, 2021 annual stockholder meeting.
Anderson has more than 25 years of IT industry experience. He is a managing director for Google Cloud and is also a member of the Go-To-Market Advisory Board for CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund. Savoy magazine named him one of 2020’s “Most Influential Black Americans in Corporate America.”
Read the release here.
7 Jun 2021
Looking Glass Factory, the leader in holographic light field display technology, announced that Brenda Freeman has joined its Board of Directors. Freeman’s 25 years of executive and marketing experience will continue to strengthen Looking Glass Factory’s Board of Directors as it accelerates its development of new products and releases Looking Glass Portrait to the world.
In addition to her experience in consumer packaging companies, Freeman has held lead marketing roles in top entertainment and technology companies, including Turner Broadcasting, DreamWorks, National Geographic, and more recently, Magic Leap and Arteza.
Read the release here.
7 Jun 2021
NBT Bancorp Inc. announced today that J. David Brown has joined the Boards of Directors for NBT Bancorp Inc. and NBT Bank, N.A.
Brown is President and CEO of the Capital District YMCA, where he has worked for 28 years to create better opportunities for all through community programs and services. A past member of the NBT Bank Capital Region Advisory Board, Brown also served on the Siena College Board of Trustees.
Read the release here.
7 Jun 2021
The number of African Americans serving on boards of directors for the nation’s largest corporations has remained dismally low this year despite the ongoing movement to increase C-suite diversity throughout the business world.
Some of America’s most prominent companies are addressing the problem by backing the Black Boardroom Initiative, a new program unveiled Wednesday with a goal of increasing the ratio of Black executives sitting on S&P 500 corporate boards to one in eight by 2028.
Read the article here.
26 May 2021
Rollins, Inc., a premier global consumer and commercial services company, announced the election of Gregory B. Morrison to the Board of Directors, effective June 1, 2021.
Morrison is the retired Senior Vice President and Corporate Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Cox Enterprises, Inc. During his 18 years as CIO at Cox, Morrison was responsible for the management and operations of all technological information including cybersecurity. He is known for the production of large-scale business transformations and the development of key technological advances that help improve manual business processes. Prior to joining Cox, Mr. Morrison served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of RealEstate.com, a B2B e-commerce internet company, and held various executive positions in technology and business at Prudential Financial, Inc. from 1989 to 2000, including Vice President and CIO.
Read the release here.
26 May 2021
Klarna the leading global bank, payments provider, and shopping service is pleased to confirm that Roger W. Ferguson Jr will join the Board of Directors. Mr. Ferguson is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, past President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA, the Steven A Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and served on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness as well as its predecessor, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. Ferguson will join the board chaired by Michael Moritz, partner at Sequoia Capital as well as recent appointments of other new members: Omid R. Kordestani, former executive Chairman of Twitter, Lise Kaae of Bestseller Group, and Sarah Smith, a senior advisor at Goldman Sachs.
Read the release here.
19 May 2021
This update provided per the ELC’s Twitter account.
Pamela Edwards has extensive experience in finance, strategy and operations leadership across a variety of retail brands and sectors. Ms. Edwards most recently served with L Brands Inc. as the Chief Financial Officer for the Mast Global division from 2017-2020, as the Chief Financial Officer of Victoria Secret division from 2007-2017, and as the Chief Financial Officer for the Express division from 2005-2007. In addition to these roles, Ms. Edwards also served as a director on three internal L Brands boards of directors during this period. Ms. Edwards also served on the boards of the Columbus YWCA (2006-2012) and Children’s Hunger Alliance (2019-2020). Ms. Edwards was recognized as one of Ohio’s Most Influential Women by Diversity 1st in 2008 and has been a member of The Executive Leadership Council since 2006. Prior to L Brands Inc., Ms. Edwards worked in various business and financial planning roles at Gap / Old Navy, Sears Roebuck, and Kraft Foods. Ms. Edwards has an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BS in Finance from Florida A&M University.
19 May 2021
Cummins Inc. announced the election of Carla Harris to its Board of Directors. Ms. Harris is Vice Chairman of Wealth Management and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. Over her 30-year career with Morgan Stanley, her experiences include investment banking, equity capital markets, equity private placements, and initial public offerings in a number of industries such as technology, transportation, and the industrial sector.
Read the release here.
19 May 2021
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the authority on boardroom practices representing more than 21,000 board members announced that the NACD board of directors will welcome four new board members, two in July 2021, and two in January 2022. Together, these directors bring deep expertise in governance practices and strategy; innovation; effective marketing principles and techniques; financial management to drive efficient growth, and C-suite experience that makes them uniquely equipped to help tackle the challenges that companies, and their boards, face today. With the addition of these highly qualified directors, the NACD board will be majority female and comprised of five diverse members, reflecting the organization’s deep commitment to advancing diversity as a means of creating long-term value.
Jocelyn Carter-Miller, the president of TechEdVentures and SoulTranSync entrepreneurial ventures, specializes in developing and marketing high performance educational and personal/community empowerment programming. She currently serves on the corporate boards of Principal Financial Group Inc., InterPublic Group Inc., and Arlo Technologies Inc., and served on the Netgear Inc. board until August 2018.
Sandra A. J. Lawrence is a seasoned public company director whose diverse experiences include utilities, medical devices, and financial services. She currently serves on the corporate boards of Evergy Inc. and American Shared Hospital Services; the trust board of Ivy and Waddell and Reed (transitioning to Delaware by Macquarie); the NACD Heartland Chapter; the Hall (Hallmark) Family Foundation; and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Previously, she has served as chief administrative officer, chief financial officer, and executive vice president for Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics; senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer for the Midwest Research Institute; interim CEO for Frontier Medical Research; president/CEO for Global Packing Solutions; and vice president for Gateway Inc.
Mary A. Winston is an accomplished corporate board member and financial executive with experience serving as an SEC financial expert on large, global, public company boards. She has served as interim CEO for Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., as well as executive vice president and chief financial officer for three large, industry-leading corporations. Having served on several large public boards, she brings valuable experience in shareholder activism, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, CEO succession, business transformation, corporate risk assessments, and broad corporate governance matters.
Read the release here.
04 May 2021
LiveXLive Media, a global platform for livestream and on-demand audio, video and podcast/vodcast content in music, comedy and pop culture, and owner of PodcastOne, Slacker Radio, React Presents and Custom Personalization Solutions, announced that Kris Wright has been appointed to LiveXLive’s Board of Directors. The appointment brings the total number of LiveXLive board members to nine.
Mr. Wright is a senior leader in the Consumer Products Industry with more than 20 years of innovative, growth oriented, results-driven leadership experience. He has spent the past 10 years at Nike and is currently Vice President of Nike Global Men’s Footwear Lifestyle Product. Prior to joining Nike, Wright held senior management roles at Converse, Jordan, and Reebok. In October 2020, Kris was recognized by Business Insider as one of 28 Outstanding People of Color in the Sneaker Industry.
Read the release here.
04 May 2021
Vroom has added two members to its board of directors, both with extensive backgrounds in the financial industry.
The new members are Paula Pretlow and Frederick Terrell, and Vroom chief executive officer, Paul Hennessy describes them as “two highly qualified executives with notable leadership experience at some of the world’s largest financial institutions.”
Pretlow is former senior vice president of The Capital Group, a $2.4 trillion privately held investment management firm. At that company, she led the public fund business development and client relationship group. For 10 years, she was responsible for large client relationships.
Terrell is the former executive vice chairman of investment banking and capital markets at Credit Suisse, the global investment bank. He later served as senior adviser for that company. He was a member of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Committee, Managing Director Promotion Committee and the board of trustees of the Credit Suisse Americas Foundation.
Read the article here.
27 Apr 2021
Companies in the U.S. that fail to add people of color to their leadership are “committing corporate suicide,” the chairwoman of Starbucks said this week.
Mellody Hobson said in a virtual talk at Maine’s Bowdoin College that “it’s time for us to start acting and doing something” to broaden the racial and gender composition of boards of directors that help guide big companies. Although the diversity of Fortune 500 boardrooms has increased in recent years, research shows that most boards remain overwhelmingly white and male.
Read the article here.
27 Apr 2021
Parker Hannifin Corporation, the global leader in motion and control technologies, announced the election of William F. Lacey to its Board of Directors.
Mr. Lacey is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Lighting, a Savant company, a position he has held since 2015. He has more than 20 years of financial and operational leadership experience with General Electric. GE Lighting was acquired by Savant Systems, Inc., a leader in home control and automation, in 2020.
Read the release here.
16 Apr 2021
The Molson Coors Beverage Company board of directors today announced that Julia M. Brown has been nominated as an independent director for election at the company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 26, 2021. Brown is a seasoned supply chain and procurement executive who most recently served as the Chief Procurement Officer for Mars Wrigley. The board also announced independent director Iain Napier will not stand for re-election in accordance with the company’s retirement policy and will retire from board service at the meeting.
Brown’s experience spans across strategic sourcing, purchasing, co-manufacturing and logistics. Prior to Mars Wrigley, Brown served as Chief Procurement Officer at Carnival Corporation, where she was responsible for strategic sourcing and supplier relationship management, overseeing nearly $10 billion in corporate expenditures. She has also served as Chief Procurement Officer at Mondelez International, Kraft Foods and The Clorox Company. She has served in purchase leadership positions at The Gillette Company, Diageo and Procter & Gamble.
Read the release here.
16 Apr 2021
T-Mobile US, Inc. today announced that finance executive Bavan M. Holloway has been nominated to join its board of directors. If elected by stockholders, Holloway is expected to join the board and its Audit Committee after T-Mobile’s annual stockholders meeting on June 3, 2021. The company’s other 12 board members will also stand for re-election at that annual meeting.
Holloway has over 30 years of broad finance and audit experience in complex and highly regulated business environments. Holloway previously was Vice President of Corporate Audit for Boeing, among other senior finance roles. She was also previously a Partner at KPMG. Holloway holds a bachelor’s degree in Administration from the University of Tulsa and a master’s degree in Financial Markets and Trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She currently serves on the board for TPI Composites Inc. and the YWCA Seattle/King/Snohomish and previously served on the board of the Special Olympics of Washington.
Read the release here.
16 Apr 2021
BNC, the nation’s first and only 24/7 news network dedicated to covering the issues, challenges and successes affecting Black and Brown communities, has announced the appointment of Mark Garner, Executive Vice President of Global Content Sales and Business Development for A+E Networks, to its Board of Directors.
Garner has been a senior executive with A+E Networks for more than 14 years, where he has held roles with increasing responsibility that oversee strategy and execution for content distribution, marketing, licensing and overall business development. Prior to joining A+E Networks, Garner worked at Lifetime Entertainment Services, MTV Networks, AT&T (formerly Pacific Bell), as well as an executive at several start-up ventures, including a satellite broadcast network based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Read the release here.
16 Apr 2021
Erika Dilday will join American Documentary, Inc. as executive director.
Dilday, who succeeds Justine Nagain, will be the company’s first Black executive director. The AmDoc board of director announced on Tuesday that Dilday will begin her duties as executive director in May.
As executive director Dilday will oversee all aspects of AmDocs programs and operations, including production and programming, community engagement and education, digital strategy, development, business affairs, communications and overall management of the POV series on PBS. She will also serve as executive producer of America ReFramed, the company’s year-round showcase of independent documentaries featuring contemporary American stories that airs on the World Channel.
Read more here.
16 Apr 2021
The Art Institute of Chicago has appointed philanthropist, art collector, and marketing executive Denise Gardner chairperson of its board. Gardner, who in November will succeed outgoing board chair Robert M. Levy, is first woman, and the first African American, to helm the board of the Art Institute. She is additionally believed to be the first Black woman to lead a major museum board in the United States.
Read the article here.
16 Apr 2021
A panel of corporate governance thought leaders and public company directors at a recent webinar on diversity and inclusion within corporate boards offered practical guidance for boards on ways to meet their companies’ goals, as well as some statistics about the progress made in recent years.
Suggestions To Improve Diversity and Inclusion
Read more here.
08 Apr 2021
KEY POINTS
Director Search CEO Ken Taylor estimates about 45,000 executive searches will need to be completed over the coming years as the workforce ages.
“There’s a lot that we should do in terms of broadening the issue of diversity and inclusion and it starts with equality and opportunity,” he said in a “Mad Money” interview to break homogeneity in corporate boards.
Read the full article here.
08 Apr 2021
U.S. companies are coming under intense pressure to diversify their executive ranks.
Shareholders this year have filed a record number of demands for racial equity audits and more transparency around hiring and promotions.
But even as the Derek Chauvin murder trial grips the nation and race rises to the top of the social and legislative agenda, some executives who publicly praise the power of workforce diversity are pushing back against efforts to divulge more information about their own business practices.
Amazon, JPMorgan, Johnson & Johnson and others are fighting shareholder efforts to put racial equity questions up for a vote. Nasdaq’s proposal to require more diversity on corporate boards has been stalled at the Securities and Exchange Commission. And activist investors, unable to shine a light on corporate hiring, are relying on algorithms to suss out which boards meet their metrics for racial, ethnic and gender diversity.
Read more here.
08 Apr 2021
Akamai Technologies, Inc. the world’s most trusted solution for protecting and delivering digital experiences, announced the appointment of Sharon Y. Bowen to fill a newly-created vacancy on the Akamai Board of Directors.
Bowen has been a member of the board of directors of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. since December 2017, where she also serves on the boards of certain New York Stock Exchange U.S.-regulated exchanges. Prior to Intercontinental Exchange, she served as a commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for three years where she had extensive international engagement with central banks, regulators and market participants across the globe.
Read the release here.
10 Mar 2021
American Express Company announced that Lisa W. Wardell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Adtalem Global Education Inc., has been elected to its Board of Directors. Ms. Wardell will also join the Board’s Risk Committee.
Ms. Wardell has served as President and CEO of Adtalem, a leading provider of workforce solutions and educational services since 2016, and was elected Chairman of the Board in 2019. Ms. Wardell has led the acquisition and integration of companies in Adtalem’s financial services vertical, including ACAMS, the largest membership organization for Anti-Financial Crime professionals globally, as well as the turnaround and sale of Adtalem’s non-core assets. She has also focused the company on enhancing the diverse representation of its senior leadership and Board.
Read the release here.
04 Mar 2021
General Motors’ vice president of global manufacturing, Gerald Johnson, has been elected to the board of directors for construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. Johnson, who was the recipient of the prestigious Black Engineer of the Year award for 2021, began his new board role with Caterpillar on March 1st.
Read more here.
24 Feb 2021
KEY POINTS
BET founder Robert Johnson told CNBC he believes companies will more seriously address racial inequality within their workforces once a failure to do so starts impacting their stock price.
Read the full article here.
24 Feb 2021
American Airlines Group Inc. announced the election of Adriane M. Brown to its board of directors. Brown will also serve on the company’s Audit and Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility committees.
Brown currently serves as managing partner at venture capital firm Flying Fish Partners. She also sits on the boards of Axon Enterprise, Inc., eBay Inc. and the Washington Research Foundation/WRF Capital.
Brown has held a number of senior leadership positions during her career, including president and chief operating officer at Intellectual Ventures Management, LLC, president and CEO of Transportation Systems and vice president and GM of two aerospace divisions at Honeywell International Inc. Brown launched her career at Corning Incorporated and rose to hold several senior roles. She previously served on the boards of The Raytheon Company, Allergan plc and Harman International Industries, Incorporated.
Read the release here.
24 Feb 2021
We found that most private equity-backed executives are in high-pressure environments with little bandwidth outside their main role, yet they are approached by multiple companies seeking a similar profile. Culled from our conversations across the talent landscape, below are seven attributes I learned many top leaders are looking for in a board placement.
1. Interest in the company or industry
2. Strategic partnership
3. Strong board culture
4. Chemistry with the CEO
5. Diversity of thought and board composition
6. Smaller board sizes
7. Remote board potential
Read more here.
17 Feb 2021
Foursquare announced the appointment of Gina Loften to its Board of Directors. Loften joins the Board as one of tech’s most tenured and trusted business leaders, built on decades of success at IBM and currently in her role as Microsoft US’s CTO. As a Foursquare Board member, Loften will work closely with Foursquare’s Executive Team to deliver on the Company’s promise as the most trusted, independent location technology company and further foster the company’s momentum as the location software layer of every business’s tech stack.
Read more here.
17 Feb 2021
Oaktree Capital Group, LLC announced the appointment of Depelsha McGruder to its Board of Directors. Ms. McGruder is the chief operating officer and treasurer of the Ford Foundation.
Prior to joining the Ford Foundation in 2020, Ms. McGruder served as COO of New York Public Radio (NYPR), overseeing internal operations and strategic planning for WNYC, WQXR, Gothamist.com, The Greene Space, and New Jersey Public Radio since 2018. Before her tenure at NYPR, Ms. McGruder spent 17 years at Viacom in senior leadership positions at both MTV and BET Networks. She started her career as a broadcast journalist, working as an on-air reporter, anchor, and producer for two commercial television stations in Georgia and subsequently spent time as a strategy consultant at Accenture in the media, telecomm and high tech practice.
Read the release here.
11 Feb 2021
The Procter & Gamble Company announced that its Board of Directors has appointed B. Marc Allen, chief strategy officer and senior vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development at The Boeing Company, to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Read more here.
11 Feb 2021
International Paper Company announced the election of Anton V. Vincent to its Board of Directors effective March 1, 2021.
Mr. Vincent currently serves as President, Mars Wrigley North America, part of Mars. Incorporated, a global, family-owned business with $40 billion in annual sales and a diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services. He joined the company in 2019, after serving as Chief Executive Officer at Greencore USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Greencore Group, Plc. Before Greencore Group, he spent 23 years at General Mills, a leading global consumer packaged goods company, advancing to become President of three separate business divisions. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Finance from Sam Houston State University and an MBA from Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.
Read the release here.
11 Feb 2021
Signet Jewelers Limited, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry, today announced the appointments of André Branch and Dontá Wilson to its board of directors, effective immediately. Their appointments will expand Signet’s board to 12 from 10 members, 11 of whom are independent, and will further position the company’s goal to reinvent how people browse, shop and purchase jewelry for all occasions.
Read the release here.
11 Feb 2021
Equifax Inc. announced that Audrey Boone Tillman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Aflac Incorporated, has been elected to its board of directors.
Since 2014, Tillman has served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Aflac, the U.S.’s largest provider of supplemental insurance, and oversees the company’s legal division and functions related to human resources, compliance, government relations, global cybersecurity and the office of the corporate secretary. Tillman joined Aflac in 1996 and has since held roles of increasing significance, including serving as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. Tillman has also been instrumental in Aflac’s strategic growth, helping launch Aflac Japan as a standalone subsidiary, and working closely with the U.S. state insurance regulators and Japanese government officials.
Read the release here.
11 Feb 2021
Owens & Minor, Inc., a healthcare solutions company, has announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Gwendolyn (Gwen) Bingham to its Board of Directors.
A retired 3-star US Army general, Bingham brings a range of executive experience in leadership and planning as well as talent and resource management.
Most recently, she served as Department of the Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, where she provided policy, programs, and resourcing expertise for installation infrastructure and services for 156 Army installations worldwide.
Read more here.
11 Feb 2021
The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) announced the appointment of Michael C. Hyter as the organization’s President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 1, 2021.
Mr. Hyter joins The ELC from Korn Ferry, where he most recently served as Chief Diversity Officer of the global organizational consulting firm and previously served as the Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, DC office. A recognized thought leader on diversity and inclusion-driven corporate growth strategies, for more than 25 years he has served as a trusted counselor and advisor to Fortune 1000 companies across multiple industries and their boards. Mr. Hyter’s most recent publication is The Power of Choice: Embracing Efficacy to Drive Your Career. He is also co-author of The Power of Inclusion: Unlock the Potential and Productivity of Your Workforce, published by Wiley. He has published extensive articles in publications, including the Handbook of Business Strategy, Director’s Monthly, Profiles in Diversity Journal, and Inc.
Read the release here.
11 Feb 2021
Merck & Co Inc said on Thursday Ken Frazier, one of only a handful of Black executives leading major U.S. companies, will step down as chief executive officer at the end of June and be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Robert Davis.
Frazier, 66, will remain with the drugmaker as executive chairman for a transition period. He had been due to retire in 2019, but the company scrapped a policy requiring its CEO to retire at age 65.
Frazier was one of only five Black CEOs on last year’s Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies, released in June 2020.
His departure would drop the number to three as TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson, Jr. will also retire in March. But with Rosalind Brewer, Starbucks’ Chief Operating Officer, joining the ranks as CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc in March, the number will go to four.
Corporate boards are coming under pressure to address the dearth of Black leadership at top American companies with diversity increasingly recognized as a worthy corporate value.
Davis will inherit a company with one of the world’s best selling drugs in its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and a tightened focus after it completes the spinoff of its slower growing women’s health, biosimilar drugs and older products later this year.
Read more here.
05 Feb 2021
Lloyd W. Brown, II, Corporate Community Reinvestment Act officer for Citigroup, has been elected chair of The Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the preeminent global membership organization for Black current and former CEOs, senior executives, and board members of Fortune 1000 and equivalent companies, top-tier entrepreneurs, and global thought leaders. The ELC’s purpose is to open pathways of opportunities for senior Black executives to positively impact business and society. The organization works to increase the number of Black corporate CEOs, C-Suite executives, and board members. It is also focused on building the pipeline of the next generation of Black corporate leaders through its formal leadership development programs.
Read the release here.
05 Feb 2021
The announcement last week that Starbucks chief operating officer Roz Brewer would become CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance in mid-March was met with enthusiasm on Wall Street because a massive company was getting a widely admired executive as its CEO. But there was also widespread elation that a new Black CEO would be joining the ranks of those on the Fortune 500, and a woman no less, an all too rare occurrence.
But at the end of March, the meager ranks of Black leaders atop America’s largest corporations will thin again after Roger Ferguson Jr., steps down as chief executive of pension fund TIAA after almost 13 years.
Read the article here.
28 January 2021
Mr. Brown serves as executive vice president of global operations and chief supply chain officer for Dell Technologies. He spent two decades in progressive leadership positions at Dell, including chief procurement officer.
Mr. Brown earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.S. in Engineering Management from George Washington University. He serves as a member of the National Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and the Executive Leadership Council.
Read more here.
28 January 2021
Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Rosalind Brewer is continuing to blaze new trails in corporate America.
At the end of February, Brewer, who is the coffeehouse company’s first Black and first female COO, will be leaving her position to serve as CEO of drugstore chain Walgreens. In this new role, she will be the only Black woman currently serving as a Fortune 500 CEO, and just the third Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 firm in history. Ursula Burns, who served as the CEO of Xerox between 2009 and 2016 was the first, and Mary Winston, who served as interim CEO at Bed Bath & Beyond in 2019, was the second.
Read the article here.
28 Jan 2021
Debra Lee, former CEO of BET Networks, has launched Monarchs Collective, a consultancy to boost corporate board diversity as new rules and heightened social awareness make director appointments more of a key issue than ever before.
She and partner Rabia de Lande Long, an executive coach and management consultant to Fortune 500 companies, will work from both coasts to “build better boards and better companies” inside and out of the media and entertainment space, advising on directors and executive leadership and helping corporate America “discover, develop, and promote exceptional Black and women executives.”
Read more here.
22 Jan 2021
Seasoned executives from the realms of high tech, entertainment, fashion, finance, professional sports and more have joined the inaugural cohort of Santa Clara University’s new Black Corporate Board Readiness program.
The program, which starts online Feb. 4, will prepare senior Black executives for service on boards of private and public companies in Silicon Valley, across the state, and nationwide. More than 30 Black executives with extensive personal experience on corporate boards across the U.S. have joined with SCU to facilitate program modules and serve as mentors and advisors to the participants.
The cohort of 28 includes Black professionals from six states and numerous industries, with depth and breadth of professional experience.
Read the release here.
22 Jan 2021
Never underestimate the power of a good Board Member. United Natural Foods, Inc.’s (UNFI) latest addition to its own Board brings a strategic leader to its team, one who has significant large-scale supply chain expertise. Gloria Roberts Boyland joined UNFI’s Board of Directors on January 14, 2021, a new role in which she will help advance the wholesaler’s long-term objectives.
Read more here.
19 Jan 2021
HubSpot, a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform, announced today that product development and engineering leader Nick Caldwell has joined the company’s board of directors.
Caldwell has a proven track record in building and scaling well-known products, including previous roles at PowerBI at Microsoft, Reddit, Looker, and Twitter, that will be invaluable as HubSpot continues to scale. His deep expertise in reporting and business intelligence, gained during his time as GM of PowerBI and chief product and engineering officer at Looker, will be especially useful as HubSpot continues to build out its reporting capabilities.
Caldwell is a board member of /dev/color and BAMIT, organizations with missions of empowering Black professionals to build and grow careers in the technology space. He also co-founded Color Code, a scholarship fund dedicated to future leaders of color in technology fields.
Read the release here.
14 Jan 2021
Cisco announced the appointment of John D. Harris II to its board of directors.
Harris has over 30 years of technology, non-profit and business board experience. He most recently served as vice president of Business Development for Raytheon Company and chief executive officer of Raytheon International, Inc. where he oversaw worldwide sales and marketing, international business and government relations operations functions. He was also responsible for developing and leading the execution of Raytheon’s global business strategy.
Read more here.
07 Jan 21
Three commitments to help companies promote diversity, equity, and inclusion — and resist the status quo.
Commitment 1: A racially inclusive board
The board needs to commit to recruiting board directors who value and have a proven record in confronting issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, our work suggests that tokenism may impede this goal. Directors of color may be sought out for the sake of racial diversity and not because they have a record of or interest in improving racial justice. Other directors may be recruited for their operational leadership but may lack DEI skills and expertise.
Commitment 2: A board culture that empowers directors to speak up
Our work suggests that boards are often hierarchical: The board chair or lead director dominates meetings, and other board directors, when they do speak, are frequently interrupted. These dynamics are problematic for advancing a racial justice agenda because they can silence board directors who possess skills and expertise in improving racial justice. A board cannot help a company advance a racial justice agenda without a culture that encourages speaking up. To empower directors, the board chair or lead director should do the following.
Commitment 3: Personal accountability and responsibility
We have found that without a personal sense of accountability and responsibility, board directors will fail to help their company advance a racial justice agenda. Yet cultivating such a sense is no easy feat. John Rogers, a coauthor of this article, often speaks about his experience with this challenge, noting that even as boards became more diverse, Black board members were often uncomfortable making white leadership uncomfortable (confronting this issue was one of his motives for starting the Black Corporate Directors Conference). Moreover, beyond their personal responsibility to advance racial justice, directors need to hold company leaders accountable. To make progress in these two critical areas, they should do the following.
Read more here.
24 Dec 2020
Olo, the leading on-demand e-commerce platform for the restaurant industry, announced the appointment of Zuhairah Scott Washington and Russell (Russ) Jones to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Ms. Washington has a proven track record of success scaling high-growth marketplace businesses through digital transformation and disruptive technologies as an executive, board member and angel investor across B2B and B2C brands.
Read the release here.
24 Dec 2020
Discovery, Inc. announced that Robert L. Johnson will join the company’s Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2021.
Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and is also the founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, LLC, an innovative business network, and owns or holds interests in businesses operating in hotel real estate, private equity, 401k fintech services, automobile dealerships, content streaming, gaming and sports betting.
Read the release here.
24 Dec 2020
Shutterstock, Inc. announced that Alfonse Upshaw, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of Kaiser Foundation Plans and Hospitals (Kaiser Permanente), has been appointed to the company’s board of directors and will chair the audit committee of the board.
Upshaw has also served on not-for-profit boards and advisory committees including Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Windrush School Board of Trustees, the UC Berkeley Center for Financial Reporting and Management, and the American Heart Association Research Roundtable. He holds a B.S. from University of California, Berkeley and is a Certified Public Accountant as well as lifetime member of the National Association of Black Accountants, Inc.
Read the release here.
24 Dec 2020
59% of new independent directors are women or minority men
All S&P 500 boards have at least one woman for the first time
S&P 500 boards appointed 413 new independent directors in the 2020 proxy year. Of that number, 59% were women and minority men, tying the 2019 record for most diverse new independent directors, according to a new study by Spencer Stuart, one of the world’s leading executive search and leadership advisory firms.
The 2020 U.S. Spencer Stuart Board Index found that companies are listening to calls from shareholders and other stakeholders for increased diversity in their boardrooms, from gender to age, race/ethnicity, and professional background.
Read the article here.
11 Dec 2020
BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, plans to next year push companies for greater ethnic and gender diversity for their boards and workforces, and says it will vote against directors who fail to act.
The money manager, which oversees more than $7.8 trillion of assets, is asking U.S. companies to disclose the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of their employees — data known as EEO-1 — as well as measures they’re taking to advance diversity and inclusion, according to a stewardship report.
Read more here.
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.
11 Dec 2020
Zoetis Inc. announced the appointment of Antoinette (Tonie) Leatherberry, an experienced technology strategist and executive, to its Board of Directors. Her appointment increases the size of the Board from 12 to 13 members, and she will serve on the Board’s Audit and Corporate Governance Committees.
Read the release here.
10 Dec 2020
Key Points
The lack of diversity across the highest ranks of corporate America is certainly not new, but in recent months social unrest has brought the issue into the limelight. And this time around, Ariel Investments’ co-CEO Mellody Hobson believes there could be real change ahead.
Read the full article here.
03 Dec 2020
Board members come together to share insights on how corporate boards are becoming more diverse and bringing new perspectives to the boardroom
The free webinar will be held Monday, December 7, 2020 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm EDT. Registration is available at https://info.boardprospects.com/webinars/the-board-diversity.
Corporate board members and Wall Street are increasingly recognizing the need for a more diverse boardroom, not only to respond to public demand, but also to bring a fresh perspective to outdated corporate strategies. BoardProspects, an innovative software platform designed to help corporations cost-effectively recruit world-class board members, will be bringing together some of the most prominent board members in corporate America in a free, live webinar to share their insights into board diversity, and how this important topic will continue to unfold in the new year.
Read the article here.
03 Dec 2020
Nasdaq wants to require the more than 3,000 companies listed on its stock exchange to improve boardroom diversity by appointing at least one woman and at least one minority or LGBTQ+ person to their boards.
Companies would have to report regularly on how many women and minorities sit on their boards and then follow that up by appointing at least one member of each group, under a rule submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read the article here.
03 Dec 2020
The Shyft Group, Inc., the North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing, assembly and upfit for the commercial, retail, and service specialty vehicle markets, announced that Michael Dinkins has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors. Dinkins was also appointed to the Board’s Audit Committee.
Dinkins brings nearly three decades of executive financial experience, serving as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer at a number of publicly traded companies, including Integer Holdings Corp and Hilb, Rogal, & Hobbs Co. Dinkins currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Dinkins Financial, which assists private equity firms in building portfolios through acquisitions. Dinkins began his career at General Electric, where he spent 17 years and held multiple financial roles across the company.
Read the release here.
03 Dec 2020
Cerner Corporation has announced that Major General Elder Granger, M.D., U.S. Army (retired) has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors, effective Nov. 16. Dr. Granger, 67, is president and chief executive officer of The 5Ps, LLC, a health care, education, and leadership consulting organization.
Read more here.
23 Nov 2020
Reddit has appointed to its board of directors Paula Price, who has served on the board of six public companies, including Accenture and Deutsche Bank. Price’s appointment makes her one of two Black directors on the company’s board.
“Paula’s vast experience as a world-class financial leader and strategic advisor will be a tremendous asset to us in the years ahead,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said in a statement. “Best of all, she embodies the two qualities most important to us for this Board seat: expertise leading companies through periods of transformative growth and real passion for Reddit’s mission.”
Read more here.
23 Nov 2020
Addressing and improving boardroom diversity has been a top priority for corporate boards for several years, especially as some states, like California, implement laws requiring public companies to increase female and minority representation. During a recent webinar with the Thirty Percent Coalition, Nasdaq President and Chief Executive Officer Adena Friedman spoke about the importance of diversity in the boardroom and the role exchanges play in advancing diversity.
Read the article here.
10 Nov 2020
Yelp Inc. announced the appointment of USAA Chief Brand Officer Tony Wells to its Board of Directors. Tony will serve on the Compensation Committee, and his appointment expanded Yelp’s Board to a total of nine directors.
As USAA’s chief brand officer, Tony leads all marketing, corporate communications, corporate responsibility, military affairs and USAA Foundation functions for the $35 billion Fortune 100 financial services association. Before being named Chief Brand Officer, Tony led USAA’s marketing research, analytics and member intelligence function, and also later directed the marketing teams for USAA Bank and USAA Financial Advice Solutions Group.
Read more here.
10 Nov 2020
In addition to a four-year stint as head of the telco watchdog, Kennard has also served as the US ambassador to the EU. A lawyer by training, he was also previously managing director of Carlyle Group, where he was in charge of the private equity firm’s telco investments.
He also already sits on AT&T’s board. He joined in 2014, and currently serves on its corporate governance and nominating committee, and the public policy and corporate reputation committee.
Read more here.
05 Nov 2020
UPS announced the election of Kate Johnson, President, Microsoft US, and Russell Stokes, President & CEO of GE Aviation Services and Chairman of GE Power Portfolio, to the UPS Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Russell Stokes, 49, is a GE Senior Vice President responsible for GE Aviation Services commercial growth, operating performance and customer experience across its global Overhaul and Repair footprint. Along with this role, Stokes is the Chairman of GE Power Portfolio. A 23-year GE veteran, prior to this role Stokes led GE Power, GE Power Portfolio, GE Energy Connections, GE Transportation and held senior roles at GE Aviation. Stokes joined GE in 1997 on GE’s Financial Management Program after earning a Bachelor’s of Finance degree from Cleveland State University. He is active in a number of Atlanta community-based organizations and is the former Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
Read the release here.
05 Nov 2020
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. announced the appointment of Valerie Jarrett to the company’s board of directors and to the board’s audit committee and compensation and leadership performance committee, effective immediately. She joins the board as an independent director and becomes the board’s eleventh member.
Read the press release here.
05 Nov 2020
The global play and entertainment company, Hasbro, has appointed the former president of the Women’s National Basketball Association, Laurel J Richie as an independent director to its Board of Directors.
Richie served as president of the WNBA from May 2011 to November 2015. Prior to that she served as chief marketing officer of Girl Scouts of the United States of America from 2008 to 2011. She has been called a ‘trailblazer throughout her esteemed career.’
Read more here.
26 Oct 2020
American Express announced that Charles Phillips has been elected to its Board of Directors, effective December 1, 2020.
“Charles has extensive leadership experience in the technology industry with an established track record of executing significant organizational and digital transformations to drive results,” said Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express. “In addition, Charles has deep expertise in financial markets and the regulatory environment, all of which will be highly valuable additions to our Board. I look forward to having Charles’ perspective on the Board as we execute against our key priorities and position the company for growth in the future.”
Read the release here.
26 Oct 2020
Key Points
Mondelēz International, Inc. announced progress against its enhanced diversity and inclusion commitments, including the appointment of the company’s first Global Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Robert Perkins. In this role, Perkins will drive efforts to advance diversity, inclusion, representation and belonging in all our markets, including a commitment to double Black representation in its U.S. management team by 2024.
Read more here.
21 Oct 2020
Just under a month since the start of the Board Diversity Action Alliance, big-time businesses including Albertsons Cos., Centene Corp., Nordstrom Inc., and Under Armour have joined the BDAA to help increase Black representation on corporate boards across America.
The firms are joining with corporate giants Dow, Macy’s, Mastercard, PNC, Uber, UPS, and WW (formerly Weight Watchers) as founding signatories of BDAA. The firms are pledging to boost the number of diverse representatives on their boards to one or more, making their board demographics known by number, and disclosing the race and ethnicity of board directors.
Read the full article here.
21 Oct 2020
Coffee behemoth Starbucks is taking its diversity and inclusion efforts to the next level by rolling out a new mentorship program for its partners, setting target goals for diversity across the company’s ranks, publicly sharing its progress, and linking executive compensation to hitting those goals.
Starting in fiscal 2021, Starbucks will launch a mentorship program to connect its Black, Indigenous and People of Color employees (BIPOC), known internally as “partners,” to senior leaders within the company. The company’s senior vice president and above leaders will work with BIPOC partners to advance in their careers.
Read more here.
By: Dana Bolden
10 Oct 2020
First, let me say their names: Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Their tragic deaths defined one of the more complex summers in America’s history. As a result, corporate boards across the country (and their executive leadership teams) struggled with how to convert the tragedies in to meaningful policies. Some companies put out statements saying they stand with the Black community; many have even made donations to causes supporting racial equality – and cited they will stand by their Black employees.
In some cases, we’ve seen companies get aggressive in their recruitment of Black Board members. Adobe, Expedia, American Eagle have all made key appointments to their boards this summer and I expect more companies to follow suit.
Blacks are seeing additional opportunities thanks to the opportunities created by the deaths of those individuals mentioned earlier. But now that we’re seeing opportunities, who coaches, counsels and invests in their success?
We need a community to support those individuals.
I offer three simple suggestions for those newly appointed Board leaders:
Lastly, Black directors should specifically ask what the company’s strategic priorities are in the Black community. It is always awkward to come in with a “Black agenda,” but the events of this summer presented a unique opportunity to break down persistent inequalities in areas such as food security, education and Black supplier development.
Use your leverage to challenge the budgets and effectiveness of these investments and test whether these activities are simply “ticking the box” and don’t let your companies use the cover of “going slow to go far.” Make quick, deliberate changes.
This summer’s terrible deaths have shined a light on a long sequence of events that have demonstrated how Blacks are treated in America, including corporate America.
Let’s use their deaths to advance our collective causes for corporate equity and inclusion.
11 Oct 2020
The Board of Directors of Southern Company today announced the election of Colette D. Honorable as an independent director, effective Oct. 1, 2020. Honorable will join the Business Security and Resiliency Committee, and the Finance Committee.
Nominated by President Barack Obama in August 2014 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Honorable served as a FERC commissioner from Jan. 2015 to June 2017. Prior to joining FERC, Honorable joined the Arkansas Public Service Commission (PSC) as a commissioner in Oct. 2007, served as Interim Chairman in 2008, and led the PSC as chairwoman from Jan. 2011 to Jan. 2015. During this time, Honorable focused the PSC on comprehensive energy efficiency programs and ensuring safe, reliable and affordable retail electric service. Honorable also served as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners from 2013 to 2014, becoming that organization’s first African-American president.
Read more here.
10 Oct 2020
Nationally Recognized Thought-Leader on Black Male Achievement to Bring Diversity Expertise to the Brand
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Checkers & Rally’s iconic drive-thru restaurants, announced that Neil Phillips, a nationally recognized thought leader on black male achievement, minority education, character development and youth empowerment, will join the quick service company’s Board of Directors.
“We are a brand of hardworking people dedicated to serving our hardworking guests, and we believe in providing opportunity to our teams while we support our communities,” said Frances Allen, President and CEO of Checkers & Rally’s. “Neil’s outstanding work as an educator, entrepreneur, coach and youth advocate over the last 25 years gives him a valuable perspective on many of the communities we serve, and we look forward to working with him to advance our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.”
Read the release here.
11 Oct 2020
W.H. (Bill) Easter III, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of DCP Midstream LLC, has been elected to join Emerson’s board of directors, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David N. Farr announced.
Easter most recently led DCP Midstream LLC, one of the nation’s largest midstream companies engaged in gathering, processing and transporting natural gas and natural gas liquids. In this leadership role, from 2004 until his 2008 retirement, Easter oversaw growth and record earnings. Prior to joining DCP Midstream LLC, Easter worked for more than 30 years with ConocoPhillips where he held senior leadership, operations and government affairs roles both internationally and in the United States.
Read the release here.
07 Oct 2020
Adobe announced the appointment of Melanie Boulden to its board of directors. The addition of Boulden expands Adobe’s board of directors from 10 to 11 members.
Boulden is currently President of the Stills Business Unit for Coca-Cola North America (CCNA), where she leads CCNA’s water, active hydration, tea and coffee businesses. Beginning January 2021, she will be appointed as Chief Marketing Officer of CCNA and provide oversight to its multibillion dollar portfolio that includes brands like Coca-Cola, Sprite, Smartwater and Honest Tea. Prior to joining Coca-Cola in August 2019, Boulden was the global head of Marketing and Brand Management at Reebok, where she reignited Reebok’s connection to pop culture, entertainment, fitness and fashion. She also served as senior vice president of Global Marketing at Crayola and spent several years at Kraft Foods and Henkel Consumer Goods in various marketing and general management positions. She has been recognized as one of Ad Age’s 2019 U.S. Women to Watch. Boulden holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University and an M.B.A. from The University of Iowa.
Click here to read the release.
05 Oct 2020
Board seats are rare and coveted, says Maynard Webb. Aspiring members need to cultivate the right relationships now.
If you aren’t already getting calls and pings with some regular cadence, here’s what you need to think about to make you a better candidate for board positions:
Read more here.
05 Oct 2020
This week, sports betting operator DraftKings announced the appointment of Jocelyn Moore and Valerie Mosley to its board of directors in addition to making NBA legend Michael Jordan the new Special Advisor to the board.
Read the article here.
05 Oct 2020
Expedia Group added a 14th member to its board of directors Wednesday with the addition of Equifax leader Beverly Anderson.
Anderson is the president of global consumer solutions at Atlanta-based Equifax, where she develops the company’s strategy in credit, identity and financial education products for customers and leads growth and profitability, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She’s been in the role since December, and previously worked as executive vice president of cards and retail services at Wells Fargo.
Read the article here.
05 Oct 2020
Piston Group Chairman and CEO Vinnie Johnson today announced the appointment of Wilbert W. James Jr. to the company’s board of directors. James is a retired executive of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America.
Read more here.
05 Oct 2020
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. announced the appointment of Steven A. Davis to the company’s board of directors as an independent director. This appointment expands the company’s board to nine directors, including eight independents and builds on the board’s expertise and diversity.
Read the full article here.
05 Oct 2020
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Kermit Crawford as a new director. Crawford currently sits on the board of directors at TransUnion, serving in this capacity since 2019, and is a member of TransUnion’s Audit and Compliance Committee as well as the Technology, Privacy and Cybersecurity Committee. Crawford has also served on the board of directors for The Allstate Corporation since 2013 and is currently Chair of the Audit Committee, as well as a member of the Risk and Return Committee.
Read the release here.
05 Oct 2020
Five Below, Inc., the trend-right, high-quality value retailer for teens, tweens and beyond, announced that Zuhairah Scott Washington has been appointed an independent member of its Board of Directors, effective today. Ms. Washington becomes the third female member of nine non-employee directors.
Read more here.
25 Sep 2020
As Brian Stafford, 43, the CEO of a New York-based software company watched prominent black executives such as Merck CEO Ken Frazier reflect on the lack of diversity atop business, he began to hatch a plan that may reshape corporate boardrooms forever. Stafford, using his company’s powerful software platform, is quickly building a social network used by some of the most influential investment firms and corporate insiders on the planet to recruit black and Latino board members. The plan aspires to help groom a giant new generation of diverse business leaders. From the top down, Stafford is hoping these leaders will use their influence to guide organizations and broaden the aperture of opportunity for minority communities.
Read the article here.
25 Sep 2020
Publicly traded U.S. companies have been slow to add minority directors over the past five years even as women grabbed a greater share of board seats during that period, a comprehensive study to be released.
Across the Russell 3000, a broad index of U.S. companies, 29% now have two or more ethnically diverse directors, 7 percentage points more than in 2016, according to the new data from ISS ESG, an arm of Institutional Shareholder Services, scheduled to be presented at a conference. By contrast 66% of those boards now have 2 or more women, 27 percentage points more than in 2016, ISS found.
Read the article here.
25 Sep 2020
Key Points:
Read more here.
17 Sep 2020
A new report shows hope for women and minorities in the corporate world. Racial diversity and attempts at creating gender-balanced workplaces lead to more equal and representative environments, and while such social progress is an achievement, citizens must ensure that the positive changes are there to stay.
Data from a September 9 report by Heidrick & Struggles, which regularly tracks trends in corporate appointments, shows an uptick in the number of women and people of color serving on corporate boards. It specifically looks at non-executive director appointments to corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies, which illustrates that 44% of those appointments in the United States in 2019 were women. This is a 25% increase from 2010. The rise in female appointments has led to improvements in overall board diversity as well, including at senior executive positions.
Read more here.
17 Sept 2020
Eventbrite, a global self-service ticketing and experience technology platform, announced the appointment of Naomi Wheeless to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. A seasoned customer experience and operations leader, Wheeless currently serves as the Global Head of Customer Success at Square, where she oversees one of the company’s largest teams focused on addressing critical customer needs.
17 Sep 2020
Despite pledges to nominate more members of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups, companies have made little progress over the last five years.
Corporations in the United States have pledged for years to increase the number of Hispanic, Black, Asian-American and other underrepresented members on their boards, which make decisions that affect the livelihoods of millions. Yet a comprehensive new survey finds that they have made little progress.
The boards of the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies remain overwhelmingly white. Underrepresented ethnic and racial groups make up 40 percent of the U.S. population but just 12.5 percent of board directors, up from 10 percent in 2015, according to a new analysis by the Institutional Shareholder Services’ ESG division. The firm, which announced a database of the findings on Tuesday, advises investors on how to vote in board elections and on other corporate matters.
Black directors make up just 4 percent of the total, up from 3 percent in 2015, while Black women make up just 1.5 percent of the more than 20,000 directors included in the analysis, which goes beyond other surveys that included only the 500 largest public companies.
Read the article here.
12 Sep 2020
The Board Challenge announced the launch of a pledge for U.S. corporate boards of directors to add a Black director within the next year. Founded by Altimeter Capital, Valence and theBoardlist, signed by 17 Founding Pledge Partners, and supported by 27 Charter Pledge Partners that already have at least one Black director, the initiative seeks to accelerate action to improve the diversity of corporate boards starting with the representation of Black leaders on the boards of U.S. companies. Every U.S. company is encouraged to take the pledge at theboardchallenge.org, and companies that have at least one Black director are asked to sign on to express their support and use their resources to drive change.
Read the release here.
12 Sep 2020
As part of its continuing commitment to equality, Nasdaq announced on Sept. 9 that it is a signatory of The Board Challenge, a pledge seeking to enhance representation in the boardroom by asking companies to retain or add a Black director to their board. Joining the movement as a Charter Pledge Partner, Nasdaq will use its resources to accelerate change and support the goal of true and full representation on all boards of directors.
Galvanized by the energy of the Black Lives Matter movement, The Board Challenge is asking all boards without a Black director to add a Black director in the next 12 months
Read the full article here.
12 Sep 2020
A derivative shareholder lawsuit has been filed against The Gap charging the retailer with breach of fiduciary duty, among other charges, because of its all-white board of directors and executive committee and calling for replacing at least two of its current board members with Black directors.
Read more here.
03 Sept 2020
Target Corporation announced its board of directors elected Derica W. Rice, former executive vice president of CVS Health and president of CVS Caremark, as director.
Mr. Rice, 55, served as executive vice president of CVS Health and president of CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefits management business of CVS Health, from March 2018 through February 2020. Previously, he held various executive positions at Eli Lilly and Company, most recently executive vice president of Global Services and chief financial officer from 2006 to 2017. Mr. Rice is currently a member of The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors and joined the board of directors of Bristol Myers Squibb on September 1, 2020. He previously served as a member of the board of directors of Target Corporation from 2007 to January 2018.
Read more here.
03 Sept 2020
“When you look at Black representation, it’s pretty dismal,” says Stacy Brown-Philpot whose decision to step down as chief executive officer of TaskRabbit at the end of August undercuts an industry already short on executives from underrepresented groups.
Her departure also leaves her gig-economy company without any Black representation in the executive suite or on its board of directors.
“The face of Silicon Valley has to change in every single respect,” Brown-Philpot, one of Silicon Valley’s few Black CEOs and one of its most prominent Black women leaders, told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.
Read more here.
03 Sept 2020
Deborah Elam has joined Daniel J. Edelman Holdings as its first Black board member.
Read the article here.
25 Aug 2020
Reeling from charges of racism and gender discrimination, Pinterest named a Black executive to its board of directors.
The appointment follows an employee walkout over a lawsuit brought by the former No. 2 executive at the company and allegations of mistreatment made by two former Black employees.
Former Harpo Studios executive Andrea Wishom is now the ninth member of the social media company’s board and the first Black director.
Read more here.
25 Aug 2020
A quiet week for everyone’s favourite cardboard abuser, which usually means a busy one is just around the corner! First the good news, Amazon has named, Alicia Boler Davis, to the company’s top leadership council. A big move considering the overly white and male Amazon top brass. Boler Davis is vice president of global fulfillment which means warehouses are her jam in a big way. Three execs in total were popped on the S-team including Boler Davis.
Read the article here.
25 Aug 2020
Following a search aimed at bringing “a diverse perspective” to the company, Redfin has appointed Kerry Chandler, a human resources executive who is Black, to its board of directors.
Chandler, who serves as chief human resources officer of Endeavor, an entertainment, sports and media conglomerate, is joining the national brokerage and listings website’s board of directors as its ninth member.
Read more here.
17 Aug 2020
Debra L. Lee, the former chairman and CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET), has been appointed to the board of directors at the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), a multinational consumer goods company that manufactures brands like Always, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Dawn, Febreze, Gillette, Tide, and Vicks.
Read the details here.
17 Aug 2020
It’s no secret that corporate America has a diversity problem. And it starts at the very top. Growth in the number of minority directors on US corporate boards has been painfully slow.
Last year, just 19% of all directors at the top 200 companies of the S&P 500 were minorities, defined as African-American/Black, Asian and Hispanic/Latino, according to the latest US Spencer Stuart Board Index. That’s up from 15% in 2009.
But as the United States undergoes a powerful reckoning with systemic racism, there are some signs that boards may now start prioritizing efforts to go beyond their usual networks to fill more open seats with people of color.
Read more here.
17 Aug 2020
Golden Valley company commits to doubling their number, taking other steps to increase diversity, support racial equality.
General Mills said it will double the number of Black managers throughout the company, making a public commitment after the police killing of George Floyd thrust more attention on racial injustice and inequality.
The food company’s plan, reflects a larger reckoning in corporate America over the lack of diverse representation in upper management. Additionally, the company — founded in Minneapolis, and now based in Golden Valley — promised to increase the percentage of racially and ethnically diverse individuals holding professional positions within the company’s U.S. offices, currently at 19%, to 25%. It said it will diversify its supply base by doubling what it spends with minority-owned vendors.
Read the full article here.
17 Aug 2020
Workplace diversity can bring out the best in teams by promoting creativity, encouraging greater consideration of alternatives, and providing access to a wider range of information and perspectives. The numerous benefits also extend to employee recruitment and retention. Despite the growing body of evidence of these advantages and the proliferation of company-sponsored diversity initiatives, the advancement of Black professionals up the corporate ladder has been painfully slow and may even be reversing.
The underrepresentation of Black professionals is especially bleak in the highest echelon of corporate America: boards of directors. Although newly-appointed directors are increasingly diverse, 37% of S&P 500 firms did not have any Black board members in 2019 and Black directors comprised just 4.1% of Russell 3000 board members that same year.
Read more here.
3 Aug 2020
Racial understanding and equality needs to improve in corporate America and Black board members are actively taking up the cause while maintaining fiduciary duties.
When protests in Minneapolis started to spread, Gaby Sulzberger, director for Mastercard and Bixmor Property Group, says she immediately hit the phones.
“In my case it came very quickly,” says Sulzberger, who also sits on several private and nonprofit boards. “I reached out to all of my CEOs and told them I was available for them to draw on and talk to [about racial and social issues], give perspective, be a sounding board. Every one of them called me back within hours.”
Read the full article here.
3 Aug 2020
Serial entrepreneur and Startup Grind Princeton director David Stengle discussed his new startup, Board++ (Princeton), at a recent virtual meeting of Startup Grind-NY Capital Region.
The company’s mission is to diversify boards, so that founders can get the enriching perspectives of people who do not look like them. According to research, founders make better decisions when they can consult board members from different backgrounds. Board diversification also sends a powerful cultural message to startup employees, investors and customers.
Read more here.
3 Aug 2020
Juul Labs Inc. has tapped Teresa Sebastian, an executive with financial and compliance expertise, to join its board as the company seeks to reset its business and diversify its ranks.
Sebastian is chief executive officer of The Dominion Asset Group, an early-stage investment group focused on revitalizing urban areas. She will serve as an independent director and head up the closely held e-cigarette giant’s audit committee. Sebastian is the first Black member of the company’s eight-person board.
Read more here.
3 Aug 2020
Lionsgate has named former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to its board of directors.
Clyburn served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission from 2009 to 2018, including as acting chair. While at the FCC, she was committed to closing the digital divide and championed the modernization of the agency’s Lifeline Program, which assists low-income consumers with voice and broadband service. She promoted diversity in media ownership, initiated Inmate Calling Services reforms, supported inclusion in STEM opportunities and fought for an Open Internet.
Read the details here.
3 Aug 2020
BG Staffing, Inc. a national provider of workforce solutions, announced that the Company expanded the Board to seven members with the appointments of Cynthia “Cynt” G. Marshall and Beth A. Garvey, BGSF’s President and CEO, effective immediately.
Marshall has a long record of achievement and executive leadership. She is currently the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, is Founder, President and CEO of the consulting firm Marshalling Resources, and retired after a 36-year career at AT&T, most recently as SVP – Human Resources and Chief Diversity Office
Read more here.
29 Jul 2020
Chipotle Mexican Grill announced the addition of Mary Winston to its board of directors. The changes to the board composition come after Chipotle appointed Brian Niccol, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors in early March, as well as the departure of three directors.
Mary Winston is the Founder and President of WinsCo Enterprises, Inc., a consulting firm providing financial and board governance advisory services since 2016. She served as interim Chief Executive Officer of Bed Bath & Beyond in 2019, and as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Family Dollar Stores, from 2012 until it was acquired by Dollar Tree in 2015. Prior to that, Mary was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Giant Eagle, a supermarket chain from 2008 to 2012, and as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Scholastic Corporation from 2004 to 2007. Mary currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Acuity Brands, Inc., Domtar Corporation, Dover Corporation, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Read more here.
26 Jul 2020
Barry Lawson Williams has a message for companies: Find new Black candidates to serve on your board. Over the course of several decades, Williams, who ran his own consulting and investment company for many years, has served on 14 public company boards, including prominent institutions such as Sallie Mae, Navient Corporation, and PG&E, where he was the lead director. While on boards, it was not unusual for Williams to be the lone Black member.
“You see the same people being asked to serve on multiple boards while many fantastic candidates never get the position,” said Valerie Frederickson, founder and CEO of Frederickson Partners, an HR Executive Search and Consulting firm that has worked with companies such as Alphabet, Facebook and Uber. “Most boards remain extremely risk averse and only want to offer board positions to people they consider as much like them as possible.”
Read the article here.
26 Jul 2020
Fifth Third Bancorp announced the appointment of Linda W. Clement-Holmes as an independent director of Fifth Third Bancorp, effective immediately.
Clement-Holmes retired from Procter & Gamble in 2018 after a 35-year career that culminated in the role of chief information officer. She is widely recognized as a leader in information technology, information security and digital and IT strategy, and has been listed in Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders, Uptown Professional’s Top 100 Executives, and Black Enterprise magazine’s Top Executives. She is a fellow at the IT Senior Management Forum and a recipient of numerous awards, including the Howard University Global Visionary Leadership Award.
Read the release here.
20 Jul 2020
As boards plan for third-quarter meetings amid the continuing uncertainty resulting from the COVID‑19 pandemic, review at least three agenda items for those meetings below. Each focuses on overlapping legal, compliance and reputational risks that the pandemic has amplified.
1. As businesses reopen and workers return to the office while the pandemic continues, how will management protect employee and consumer health?
This broad question has many necessary subparts. Will, or has, management reviewed and implemented guidance on reopening from Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other relevant governmental sources?
2. What is management’s plan for responding to the DOJ’s June changes to guidance on evaluating corporate compliance plans?
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice tweaked its nonbinding evaluation of corporate compliance programs for the fourth time during the Trump administration. None of these revisions adds much to existing governance and compliance wisdom.
3. What role should ESG principles have in the company’s operations?
For some time, boards and their advisers have been discussing highly publicized pronouncements about promoting stakeholder governance. This is a potentially revolutionary concept. Yet under the Delaware General Corporate Law, which governs the majority of U.S. companies, “no constituency other than stockholders is given any power,” as no less a commentator than then-Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. has written.
Read the full details here.
20 Jul 2020
Delta CEO Ed Bastian says he is “ashamed” that he has not paid more attention to fostering diversity within the airline’s executive leadership roles and will look at adding more Black members to its board of directors “over the next couple of years.”
Corporate America is — once again — facing questions about a staggering lack of diversity among top brass after demonstrators filled the streets of major US cities for weeks to protest racial injustices. Despite years of conversations about workplace inclusion and various diversity programs, the disparity remains stark.
Read the full article here.
20 Jul 2020
Waystar, a leading provider of revenue cycle technology for the healthcare industry, announced the appointment of Ursula Burns, retired Chair and CEO of VEON Ltd. and Xerox Corporation, to its board of directors.
An accomplished business leader and long-time board member for a number of blue-chip technology companies, Burns brings a wealth of experience helping businesses scale. She served as CEO of Xerox Corporation from 2009 to 2016 where she spearheaded the largest acquisition in Xerox history and subsequently led the company through a successful separation into two independent publicly traded companies.
Read more here.
20 Jul 2020
The Board of Directors of Dine Brands Global, Inc. announced the appointment of Michael Hyter as a new independent member of its Board of Directors.
Hyter, 63, served as Managing Partner of the Korn Ferry International, Washington D.C. office since 2012 and played an instrumental role in growing the breadth of their D.C. operation. He was recently appointed Chief Diversity Officer for Korn Ferry International.
Read the release here.
20 Jul 2020
Earlier this month, a bill that would set up mandatory minority quotas on California company board of directors was heavily amended once again as it awaits a hearing in the Assembly.
Assembly Bill 979, authored by Assemblyman Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), would require companies to impose strict minimums on the number of African-American, Hispanic, and Native American board members a company must have. For companies with fewer than 4, then 1 member must come from one of those minority groups. For companies with between 4 and 8 board seats they must have at least 2 minority held seats, with any larger boards than that having at least 3.
Read more here.
13 Jul 2020
FMC Corporation announced the election of Carol Anthony (“John”) Davidson to the company’s Board of Directors, effective July 13, 2020. He will serve as a member of the Board’s Audit and Sustainability Committees
Davidson brings to the FMC Board his extensive experience as a finance leader in global corporations across multiple industries. He has a strong track record of building and leading global teams and implementing governance and controls processes. He previously served as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer of Tyco International from 2004 to 2012 where he led financial reporting, internal controls and accounting policies and processes. Prior to Tyco, Davidson held senior global leadership positions in finance and related disciplines at Eastman Kodak Company and Dell Computer Corporation. He is a Certified Public Accountant and began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co.
Click here to read the press release.
07 Jul 2020
When former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault left the board of Facebook and was nominated to Berkshire Hathaway’s board, he became the first African American director recruited to Warren Buffett’s iconic conglomerate.
That means Berkshire’s name will no longer appear on Black Enterprise’s annual list of S&P 500 companies that have yet to elect a single Black board member.
The remaining long list includes several household names, including Gap Inc., Chipotle, and Kraft Heinz. The 15 biggest (by market value) S&P 500 companies on the list still without any Black board members are identified below.
Read more here.
07 Jul 2020
Shake Shack Inc. announced the appointment of Tristan Walker to its Board of Directors, effective June 18. Walker has been named to the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee of the Board and will work closely with management on Shake Shack’s environmental, social and corporate governance. A skilled executive with a wealth of experience in leading companies and building brands with an eye toward authenticity and inclusivity, Walker will become the tenth member of Shake Shack’s Board of Directors.
Read the full article here.
07 Jul 2020
Similar to SB 826, corporations will be required to have a minimum of one director from an underrepresented community no later than the close of the 2021 calendar year. By the close of the 2022 calendar year, the minimum numbers would be as follows:
The bill would also impose similar reporting requirements on the Secretary of State and subject violators to significant fines.
The bill defines a “director from an underrepresented community” to mean an individual who is African-American, Hispanic, or Native American.
The legislature goes into summer recess today and will reconvene on July 13. J.R. 51(b)(2). AB 979 has been assigned to the Senate Committe
Read the details here.
07 Jul 2020
Former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns is calling on leaders in corporate America to look at the racial imbalances within their own companies amid their statements of support for protesters fighting against racial injustice.
In a recent interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Burns, who was the first Black woman to serve as a Fortune 500 CEO, says that a huge part of racial inequality within corporate America starts at the board level. She points out that “most of the boards still have zero or one African American” members on their team and that “pressure in that area can help to speed up progress and transitions for companies.”
Read the story here.
07 Jul 2020
American Express named President of Strategic Partnerships Glenda McNeal to its Executive Committee this week, making the veteran executive the first Black woman to sit on the Committee
During her more 30 years at American Express, McNeal has served in a number of roles across sales and client management, business development, and marketing and strategy. In her current role, she leads strategy and negotiations for key partnerships with the largest e-commerce, travel, technology, and retail companies. Squire added that McNeal has “overseen the growth of our relationships with our largest and most critical partners, including Delta, Marriott, Hilton, PayPal and Amazon.”
Read the article here.
07 Jul 2020
Levi Strauss & Co. has joined the ranks of businesses that are celebrating Juneteenth as an official paid company holiday worldwide.
The jeans maker also pledged today to fill a position it calls “head of diversity, inclusion, and belonging,” to add an African American person to the board of directors, and to strive to have 50% of candidates interviewing for jobs be people of color. In addition, Levi Strauss & Co. plans to share its employee diversity data and subsequent updates and teach all employees about racial equity.
Read more here.
07 Jul 2020
Only 3.2% of the senior leadership roles at large companies in the U.S are black
David Steward is the chairman of World Wide Technology (WWT).
American engineer and business executive Don Thompson is mostly known for his tenure as McDonald’s chief executive from 2012 through to 2015. Thompson left McDonald’s in 2015 to join Beyond Meat’s board of directors.
Ramona Hood is the CEO of FedEx Custom Critical.
Read more here.
07 Jul 2020
Corporations have been taking a hard look at the diversity within their ranks, facing pressure from customers, their employees and shareholders.
Goldman Sachs is starting a new policy: It won’t help a company with its initial public offering unless the company’s board has at least one diverse member. Next year, it will require at least two.
When calling for more diversity on corporate boards, Goldman Sachs is talking about people from chronically underrepresented groups — whether due to gender identity, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity.
Read more here.
30 Jun 2020
The most recent public outcry for racial equity and genuine inclusion started in my home city of Minneapolis and has since spread around the world. This movement dramatically increased the pressure on corporate boards to better reflect the societies in which their businesses operate. The pressure came from employees, investors, communities, and customers.
There’s no question that boardroom diversity—in terms both of race and gender—has made some progress. Among companies listed on the S&P 500, there are no longer any all-male boards. In 2019, women made up nearly half of the S&P 500’s newly-appointed directors, and 10% were women of color.
But progress has been too slow to meet many stakeholders’ rising expectations.
Read more here.
30 Jun 2020
According to the 2020 S&P 500 Board Diversity Report from executive search firm Spencer Stuart, nearly all of the top 200 publicly traded firms have minority directors. However, people of color make up only 20% of all board members at those firms; up just 1 percentage point from last year.
Read the full article here.
30 Jun 2020
Many in the top ranks of American business say now is the time to speak out after years of keeping silent.
For Kamau Witherspoon, it was the night that police arrived at his Minneapolis home, guns pointed at him, shortly after a jog. For Mike McGrew, it was the realization that a manager was tailing him as he shopped at a store supplied by the company where he’s an executive. For Kim Seymour, it was the way she instinctively holds merchandise aloft in clothing stores to make it clear that she’s not shoplifting.
Read the full article at WSJ.com here (*subscription required).
30 Jun 2020
Read more here.
12 Jun 2020
America has a long history of racial inequality and injustice. But as the old saying goes, “actions speak louder than words.” This week, we seem to finally be at an inflection point when the status quo is no longer acceptable. Our country is questioning long-held beliefs (both conscious and unconscious) about the lives and treatment of the Black community.
As it pertains specifically to Blacks and African Americans, let us look at some facts. According to Black Enterprise, 37% of the S&P 500 did not have a single black board member in 2019. In 2018, in Fortune 100 companies, there were 136 African American board members representing 11.1% of directors. For the Fortune 500, this number drops to 8.6%. Beyond the largest 500 companies, the numbers are significantly lower still as larger and more high-profile companies usually adopt best practices first.
Read more here.
12 Jun 2020
The Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) recently released a study entitled “Being Black in Corporate America.” The findings of the study make it clear that corporate America has a significant human capital issue with potential risk overtones, an issue that should be addressed with concrete steps to be taken by boards of directors and members of senior management. The study was based upon survey data collected by the National Opinion Research Center at The University of Chicago. The study was sponsored by some of the largest public corporations and professional firms in the U.S.
Among the findings were:
Read the article here.
12 Jun 2020
Wall Street is wondering if boardroom diversity will be the next issue activist shareholders take up.
Activists have tended to focus on capital structure and (lack of) growth when pursuing companies. Board diversity—whether it be racial or gender—typically comes into play when there have been glaring absences on boards. L Brands (ticker: LB), for example, was called out last year for having too few women on a board when its customers are predominantly female.
Read more here.
05 Jun 2020
People are pissed, and I understand why. For far too long, we’ve seen acts of racial injustice and reacted casually. That has finally taken a very necessary turn.
What will it take to capture a portion of that outrage and channel it toward African-American injustice in the boardroom?
Years of exclusion of African-Americans from corporate boards must end and it needs to end now.
The percentage of African-Americans on the boards of the largest public companies in the United States has edged up slightly in the last two years. I emphasize slightly, but let’s be honest, most corporate directors continue to be white men.
Why does this matter? Why should we care?
Diverse board representation is important because Boards drive so many of the decisions that impact how billions of dollars are spent and invested. Board members hire and fire CEOs and ensure they make decisions that can impact millions of African-American livelihoods. Boards are the CEO’s boss.
More directly, they can help improve the number of CEOs of color and C-Suite executives of color. So where is the outrage about these paltry numbers?
The Alliance for Board Diversity, which advocates for broader demographic inclusion in boardrooms, and the professional services firm Deloitte, shows that women and minorities occupied 38.6 percent of board seats at Fortune 100 companies last year, compared with 35.9 percent in 2016.
For most people, that’s like getting 30 more dollars a month in your paycheck. A welcome improvement but nothing that is going to change your life.
The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent organization of black senior executives, continues to be on the front lines of this battle and now the Congressional Black Caucus has joined the fight. But why is this not generating more public outrage?
People, African-Americans particularly, need to have a full understanding of the significance of African-American’s being active on boards
I think Arnold Donald, an African-American, who serves as president and CEO of Carnival Corp. & plc and corporate director of Bank of America, said it best. “The reason diversity matters is that if they’re shareholders or investors, you want the company to be successful over time. Diversity does matter when it comes to results. Secondly, communities thrive when businesses thrive. Any community that’s had a major business fail knows it affects everything—quality of life, education, arts, recreation, you name it. And then the third reason is one of social justice. You don’t want anybody being disenfranchised, feeling like they don’t have opportunity.”
The opportunities of which he speaks are endless and can create more wealth in our communities. They include hiring, training, and promotion of employees; procurement of suppliers; and philanthropic giving to charities and causes.
So yes, I’ll March for the many injustices that have become far too frequent. But I’ll use my proxy vote for the many companies in which I invest to raise the issue of diversity on boards and senior leadership among those same companies.
What will you do?
05 Jun 2020
– Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced his resignation from the company’s board, saying he was stepping down and urging the company to replace him with a black person.
– Ohanian also committed to using future gains from his Reddit stock to serve the black community and focus on curbing racial hate.
Ohanian, who is married to professional tennis player Serena Williams, also committed to using future gains from his Reddit stock to serve the black community and focus on curbing racial hate. To start, Ohanian said he would donate $1 million to former NFL player and activist Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp.
Read the full article here.
02 June 2020
The Executive Leadership Council issued the following statement in response to recent events fatally impacting the Black community.
Racism, in any form, is unacceptable to The Executive Leadership Council (ELC).
The ELC unequivocally denounces all criminal and racist acts of violence against our people. George Floyd is senselessly murdered by four white Minnesota police officers. Breonna Taylor is senselessly murdered in her own home at the hands of a white police officer. Ahmaud Arbery is senselessly murdered while jogging by three white men. Christian Cooper’s life may have ended had the response to a white woman’s false accusation to police gone differently. They join a long list of Black men, women, and children who have been the victims of murder, the common denominator indisputably being that they are Black. We are becoming an endangered species, often murdered by privileged white assailants, many of them the same people who took an oath to protect and serve us.
Read the full release here.
02 June 2020
True corporate diversity can’t be achieved unless it’s reflected at the top. And given the persistent dearth of black professionals in power roles at major companies, corporate America has a long way to go.
There’s growing awareness of the need for diversity at all levels of the workplace — not just because giving equal opportunities to all is the right thing to do, but because it helps companies better innovate and compete as US demographics and consumer habits change. Yet numerous studies show the number of black professionals on boards and in C-suite roles range from not great to dismal.
Companies are not required to disclose the race and ethnicity of their C-suites and boards, so the statistics that do exist are often collected by hand or extrapolated from surveys.
Read the details here.
02 Jun 2020
Only about 1 percent of CEOs in the S&P 500 Index are black, and last year 37 percent of boards had no black members, according to Black Enterprise magazine.
Some of the country’s most prominent black corporate leaders are weighing in publicly on the protests gripping the U.S., drawing from their own personal histories as they call for unity and seek to reassure employees.
The chief executive officers from companies including Tapestry Inc. and Merck & Co. are hardly the first prominent executives to comment on the topic. But by calling attention to their own backgrounds and relating painful experiences of discrimination, they are adding their voices to corporate America’s call for unity and calm.
Read the full article here.
01 Jun 2020
It had all the trappings of a tastefully supportive message.
On Sunday afternoon, Amazon followed the new brand blueprint of white text on a black background and tweeted out: “The inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country must stop. Together we stand in solidarity with the Black community—our employees, customers, and partners—in the fight against systemic racism and injustice.”
Meanwhile, the world’s most valuable company boasts zero top executives who are black, and Starbucks COO Rosalind Brewer is the single black member of its 10-person board of directors.
Read the full article here.
30 May 2020
Succession planning should always be a business priority. However, during an unprecedented global pandemic with hundreds dying every day, planning for succession is simply mandatory.
Some may argue that there are much more pressing problems to deal with than that which does not immediately impact the bottom line. But this is imprudent. Any business interruption due to the lack of a successor when necessary has wide ranging implications, particularly at a time when business is so disrupted already. In fact, it can be argued that the more chaotic the external environment, the more structured, prescribed and planned for internal business operations must be.
Read more here.
30 May 2020
Could board directors and executives have anticipated the pandemic? Yes, responded Louise Pentland, an executive at PayPal, the payments company, and a non-executive director of Japan’s Hitachi, during a recent webinar. Would the prospect of a global shutdown have been taken seriously enough to create a “full playbook” for a pandemic? “I don’t think so. I really don’t.”
It is taken seriously now. Company directors have scrambled to respond to coronavirus and its consequences. The crisis is testing the resilience of the “G” in the ESG triad of environmental, social and governance responsibilities.
Read the full article here.
14 May 2020
Pay to directors serving on corporate boards is expected to rise as they assume more responsibilities such as dealing with environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and the coronavirus pandemic, according to non-profit group The Conference Board.
Read the full details here.
14 May 2020
Crisis response is now a primary focus of internal and external stakeholders alike. Corporate board directors, as one of these groups of stakeholders, are, or should be, an important part of the crisis management process.
For years, crisis planning for many public companies evolved from a static “check the box” task to a multifaceted priority requiring real discipline. Today, COVID-19’s urgency brings the call to a boiling point—crisis response is now a primary focus of internal and external stakeholders alike. Corporate board directors, as one of these groups of stakeholders, are, or should be, an important part of the crisis management process. However, rarely a study has been devoted to understanding directors’ perspectives about crisis-readiness in general, and, significantly, to improvements that they they would like their companies to make. In this article, we explore those issues.
Questions from several prominent board directors about crisis management today is below.
Read more here.
08 May 2020
For the past few years, more and more organizational leaders have been increasingly thoughtful in terms of getting the right combination of people at the table so that the best decisions can be made. Yet, in times of crisis, calamity, disaster or catastrophe — when the stakes are the highest and strategic decision-making is paramount — are leaders continuing this thoughtfulness? Are they taking the few extra minutes needed to ensure a diverse group of voices will be engaged in problem-solving discussions? Or, because of the pressure to make decisions quickly, are leaders giving into their former habits and biases by nabbing the people they are most comfortable with to be a part of these critical conversations?
To read more, click here.
03 May 2020
Heidrick & Struggles, a global provider of executive search, leadership assessment and development, organization and team effectiveness, and culture shaping services, announced the launch of its newly formed Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Practice. The new practice brings together highly experienced Heidrick & Struggles consultants from executive search and consulting around the globe to help clients build diverse and inclusive leadership teams and organizations with a comprehensive, integrated suite of services across talent recruitment, leadership assessment and development, and organizational transformation.
Read the release here.
03 May 2020
More remote work and better crisis communications. Less dependence on a single supplier and fewer in-person board meetings.
Those are just some of the ways companies and their boards are likely to change how they operate as the coronavirus pandemic puts pressure on crisis planning.
Crisis preparedness is getting more attention among directors, who say they hadn’t done enough contingency planning before the Covid-19 virus outbreak.
Read more here.
26 Apr 2020
Corporate efforts to re-open their business locations will benefit from close board oversight of workforce health and safety as they are affected by developing pandemic conditions.
The actual means by which businesses are reopened are, of course, primarily the responsibility of management. Yet, it’s important to recognize that the board has an important fiduciary stake in that effort. It’s not just the obvious roles relating to oversight of operations and finance. It’s also the emerging, important duty to exercise oversight of corporate culture. And on this, as with many other pandemic-related corporate challenges, management and the board are expected to closely team in new and unique ways.
Read the full article here.
26 Apr 2020
Some say that corporate boards only have value when companies are in crisis. If that is true, the 2020 global pandemic presents a moment for corporate boards to step up like no other.
Here are a list of questions for corporate boards during this time.
Read more here.
20 Apr 2020
Willie Davis, the former Green Bay Packers and NFL great who died last week, was remembered as a tough yet congenial competitor in Milwaukee’s radio industry who also served on several major corporate boards.
Read more here.
17 Apr 2020
During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many communities around the world are practicing social distancing to stop the spread of the virus. All the while, companies are trying to safely proceed with business operations, leveraging technology to adapt to the new environment. For public company boards, many of which are preparing for proxy season, this could mean more frequent meetings, the use of a board portal for confidential communications and preparations for a virtual annual shareholder meeting.
Click here to read the full article.
17 Apr 2020
Click here to read more.
07 Apr 2020
Black Enterprise Founder and Publisher Earl G. Graves, Sr., the quintessential entrepreneur who created a vehicle of information and advocacy that has inspired four generations of African Americans to build wealth through entrepreneurship, career advancement and money management, has died. According to his son, Black Enterprise CEO Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., he passed away quietly at 9:22 p.m. on April 6, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Graves was 85.
Read more here.
07 Apr 2020
Periods of equity market turmoil often lead to increased activity.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant volatility in the equity markets, with companies across different sectors experiencing sometimes precipitous declines in share prices coupled with significant changes in share ownership. Public companies often experience an uptick in activist demands and unsolicited offers after such periods of exceptional turbulence. The 2008 financial crisis, for example, was followed by a significant increase in unsolicited offers, proxy contests and event-driven activism.
Read more here.
01 Apr 2020
As companies seek to understand and react to the particular ways in which the coronavirus pandemic may imperil their employees, operations and financial condition, there are certain key considerations that directors will likely be addressing as they, working together with management, support a variety of stakeholders through a time of unprecedented uncertainty. Among the key areas of focus for the directors are:
Read about all the areas here.
07 Apr 2020
Diversity introduces fresh perspectives and challenges old thinking. Learn how to create a diverse board of directors for your business, and find out how it can improve your bottom line.
Read the article here.
01 Apr 2020
While COVID-19 will affect the operations of different companies in different ways, the boards of directors of every company should think critically about their oversight role in the context of this unprecedented global pandemic. Here are some things to remember based on the intersection of the pandemic with directors’ duties.
Read the reminders here.
01 Apr 2020
Darrell S. Freeman, Sr., executive managing director of Zycron, Inc., has been elected to the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee board of directors.
A native of Chattanooga, Mr. Freeman founded the Tennessee-based Zycron and served as executive chairman of the information technology consulting firm before selling the company in 2017.
Read the release here.
23 Mar 2020
Temporary succession planning could become a more pressing issue in the coming weeks, as companies prepare for the possibility of executive absences related to the coronavirus pandemic, governance experts say. Finance chiefs, long seen as a steady hand within an organization, are likely contenders to temporarily fill a chief executive or chairman post if needed.
Read more here.
06 Mar 2020
17 Mar 2020
Building a board environment that enables debate, discussion, and a leadership style that allows for possible disagreement or ideas to discuss tradeoffs allows you to get the best ideas what leads to the best long-term success in a company.
Naturally you get better diversity of ideas when you have people from different backgrounds. This includes ethnic diversity, gender diversity, and generational diversity (including gen Z and millennials).
Read more here.
17 Mar 2020
Former American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault announced Friday that he was “stepping down” from the board of Facebook Inc. On the same day, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed the nomination of the world-renowned corporate leader to its board, making him the first African American ever to serve as a director of the conglomerate. Chenault will replace departing Berkshire Hathaway board member Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp. and billionaire philanthropist.
Read the full article here.
09 Mar 2020
In the last installment from Forbe’s magazine, a few questions were shared for those seeking a board seat. Here a few more to consider:
Read the details here.
09 Mar 2020
Taking over the reins at one of the largest black businesses in the nation’s financial services industry, Otha “Skip” Spriggs has been elected president and CEO of Atlanta Life Insurance Co. Inc.
Read the full article here.
04 Mar 2020
Hood is the first Black woman to become CEO in the company’s history. The company announced today that former VP of operations, strategy, and planning today bringing more than 28 years of company experience to her role. She will be overseeing the Custom Critical division.
She started with the company as a receptionist in 1991 when the company was still the called Roberts Express.
Read more here.
28 February 2020
Forbes shared an update on landing a corporate board seat followed by a few questions to assess your readiness. A few of the questions are below.
1. Do you truly have the time to serve?
2. Is compensation a secondary motive for you in seeking corporate board service?
3. Are you well-informed about board of directors liability?
4. Do you think like an entrepreneur?
Read the article and the full list of questions here.
28 February 2020
The Federal Reserve, long criticized for being too white and male, crossed a substantial milestone last year: for the first time in its 107-year history, white men held fewer than half of board seats at the Fed’s 12 regional outposts.
The shift, reinforced this January with a fresh round of appointments, has drawn little notice outside the Fed itself. But it is a window into how the U.S. central bank is setting the table for change among top policymakers, where progress toward diversity has been slow.
Read the full article here.
18 February 2020
Forbes Blog:
Over the last year, the most frequent event at which I was asked to present was a board retreat. What I found is that the most forward-thinking of the individuals who make up boards of directors know more than a little bit about social media, while others could use some education.
It’s not hard to understand why many board members aren’t their own social media gurus. Many have spent years working at the executive level, building and running businesses, crafting strategy, managing teams and networking face to face. They may see social media as something for personal rather than professional use, or as something that someone else in their organization will manage. Even LinkedIn, the most professional of the social media channels, is often viewed as only necessary if you are job seeking.
Read the full blog here.
14 Feb 2020
As scrutiny of public company leadership increases, corporations are feeling the pressure to get out ahead of criticism by examining and adjusting the makeup of their boards. This makes 2020 a great time for business leaders interested in joining corporate boards—including professionals from nontraditional backgrounds and underrepresented groups—to make the jump into one of these high-profile roles.
Read the full article here.
14 Feb 2020
Nearly half of directors in a new report cited industry expertise as the top criteria for board membership. As companies face criticism about the lack of diversity on their boards, gender diversity (36%) and racial diversity (24%) were directors’ third and fourth choices, respectively, as criteria for eligibility. The report, What Directors Think: Public Company Directors Reflect on the Top Issues in the Boardroom, was published by Corporate Board Member, Computershare and Georgeson.
Click here to read more.
04 Feb 2020
A survey of nearly 100 biotech companies by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) has found the industry still has important work to do before achieving overall gender parity and racial diversity, especially in executive and board roles. While showing “progress in some areas, we know that as an industry, we can do better,” said Helen Torley, chair of BIO’s Workforce Development, Diversity and Inclusion (WDDI) Committee and president and CEO of Halozyme Therapeutics Inc.
Reposted from BioWorld. Original article can be found here.
21 January 2020
In this article results are examined of Forbes most recent research that highlights how much board members should receive in compensation.
Read the details here.
21 January 2020
The list includes a potential economic downturn, board diversity, corporate reputation, pay equity, cybersecurity, and corporate innovation.
Preparation for an economic downturn is among the issues that will dominate the attention of corporate boards of directors in 2020, according to law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s annual look at top board matters.
Read the full list of concerns here.
21 January 2020
Every year there is a shift in corporate governance standards in an effort to evolve along with the rapidly changing business landscape and stay aligned with the shifting priorities of investors.
Read the topics for evaluation here.
21 January 2020
“Diverse and inclusive cultures are providing companies with a competitive edge over their peers.” This quote summarizes conclusions from The Wall Street Journal’s first corporate ranking that examined diversity and inclusion among S&P 500 companies. The Journal’s researchers’ work joins an ever-growing list of studies by economists, demographers, and research firms confirming that socially diverse groups are more innovative and productive than homogeneous groups.
Read more here.
13 Jan 2020
The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) announced Crystal E. Ashby as The ELC’s interim president and chief executive officer. Ashby is taking over for Skip Spriggs, who served as president and chief executive officer since March 2018 and retired at the end of 2019. She is the first woman president and CEO of the organization.
Read the article here.
07 Jan 2020
A twist, but hopefully not twisted . . . a slightly different take on developments likely to impact corporate governance in 2020. A list that doesn’t mention shareholder activism, cybersecurity, climate risks, nor SEC regulation. What follows are perspectives offered from a slightly higher altitude but still within sight of the tarmac.
Read the details here.
30 Dec 2019
The National Association of Corporate Directors’ (“NACD”) annual Public Company Governance Survey (the “Survey”) is an important resource for corporate boards and their primary committees.
The 2019-2020 version of the Survey offers timely information on key governance practices and attributes. To be sure, at year end boards are typically flooded with well-prepared reports from a variety of estimable sources. Yet through the breadth of its data and its related analysis, the NACD Survey stands out as a particularly valuable briefing tool. This, not only for public company boards, but also for those of large private and nonprofit companies.
Read key takeaways here.
30 Dec 2019
A Multicultured Life recounts the remarkable adventures of a multifaceted woman named Dolores Wharton who, at 92, set out to write and publish her own story, her own way.
“I don’t need the money and I’m too old for any sort of book tour,” says Wharton, who also wrote Contemporary Artists of Malaysia: A Biographic Survey, published in 1972. “I really just wanted to see if I could do it.”
Wharton more than did it. Her book reads like a fairytale, as much for its glamour as for its dark turns.
Read the full article here.
18 Dec 2019
Over a recent dinner with twenty C-suite executives, one founder-CEO recounted how he was preparing a slide for a company all-hands with headshots of his board of directors when he was struck by the contrast between his gender-balanced employee base and his all-male board.
“It wasn’t something I was proud to share with the team,” he told us, as heads around the table nodded.
The other CEOs in the room got it. A board populated exclusively by men is at odds with efforts to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the organization. For too many CEOs, the composition of their boards can feel more like a liability than a strategic asset.
Read the full article here.
18 Dec 2019
Improving diversity is something that most well-run companies and mission-driven businesses are now implementing. Progress is slow and many times it feels as if we are all taking one step forward, two steps back. But no organization is more important to the success or failure of these initiatives than executive search firms. They hold powerful sway over who moves into the boardroom and into C-suite positions, where all of the most important corporate decisions are made.
Read more here.
27 Nov 2019
For women serving on boards of Georgia’s public companies, 2019 was a good year. OnBoard, the nonprofit that tracks the presence of women directors and officers on Georgia’s public company boards, says in a new study that for the first time in the organization’s 27-year history, the top 50 public companies in Georgia all now have at least one woman on their boards.
Looking ahead, OnBoard is going to focus on improving the number of women of color serving on the boards of Georgia’s public company. Although there has been some improvement, only 3.43 percent of the board seats in Georgia are held by women of color (which is nearly the double percentage in 2014, when it was 1.74 percent. Among Georgia’s top 50 companies, only 17 have a woman of color on their boards. Among the 18 Fortune 500 companies in Georgia, only half have a woman of color.
Read the full article here.
15 Nov 2019
NIKE, Inc. recently announced that Thasunda Brown Duckett has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors. Duckett, 46, is CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), where she oversees a banking network with more than $800 billion in deposits and investments and 50,000 employees. She was previously CEO of Chase Auto Finance.
Read more from the press release here.
15 Nov 2019
“Just selecting a strong group of high-ranking executives doesn’t cut it,” say PwC and Ariel Investments chairmen.
Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments and vice-chair of the board at Starbucks and JPMorgan, has consistently talked about greater opportunities for minorities, women and other underrepresented employees at all positions.
Read the full article here.
15 Nov 2019
Tributes continue to pour in for Bernard Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, who unexpectedly passed away at the age of 60. Tyson ran the nation’s largest nonprofit integrated healthcare provider since 2013 and designed an industry-transforming model of tech innovation, strategic investment and affordable healthcare during a career that spanned three decades. One of BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 300 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America, Tyson served as a powerful, unequivocal voice for access and advancement of healthcare, corporate diversity best practices at all levels and racial equality.
Read more here.
10 Nov 2019
No, it doesn’t mean that the Bard of Fourth Street has become a governance consultant. Nor does it suggest that the board must accommodate a voice of protest in its mix. But it does speak to significant new developments affecting board composition that provide important guidance to the nominating committee.
Read the full article here.
08 Nov 2019
According to Linda Willett, the board of directors of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey — a $13 billion health insurer headquartered in Newark — currently consists of nearly 20% women and 30% people of color.
But Willett, senior vice president and general counsel for HBCBSNJ and president of the Women’s Forum of New York, said she guarantees that will change.
“There is such a premium on diversity now,” Willett said as she spoke at the Executive Women of New Jersey’s Corporate Gender Diversity Awards breakfast Tuesday at the APA Hotel Woodbridge. “We have to reflect the world of our customers and our board has to oversee our company the way our members see us.”
Read more here.
21 Oct 2019
Some 20 years ago, Debra Lee, then chief operating officer of Black Entertainment Television, gained her first corporate board appointment when she was tapped to serve as a director for Kodak, the leading photographic film products manufacturer at the time. “I think the only reason they looked at me was due to the fact they called Bob Johnson, the CEO of BET, and asked him to be on the board. He was on too many boards so he said, ‘You should talk to my COO,’” she recalls. “That’s how I happened to get on a board.”
Read the full article here.
21 Oct 2019
A New York City official is urging companies to adopt a policy similar to the one embraced by the National Football League, as a way to boost diversity among the ranks of board directors and CEOs.
Recently, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer sent a letter to over 50 S&P 500 companies, including Walmart, Boeing, Disney, and Verizon to implement a version of the so-called “Rooney Rule” when searching for new C-suite candidates.
Read more here.
19 Oct 2019
Read Fortune’s article here.
Read Black Enterprise’s feature Carnival Corp. Ceo Arnold Donald: We Must Expand Pipeline To Increase Black CEOs here.
Dana’s commentary follows below:
As people of color, numbers play an important role in our lives. Think of disproportionate representational numbers. Numbers like 8% of the US population being black males and black males being 50% of the population of death row in mates in US prisons.
Astounding. With only four black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies and US based, African-American consumers spending $1.4 trillion annually. Further, African-American’s make up only 8% of the US white collar workforce. One has to ask, “Are our dollars appreciated and respected?”
I’d argue a resounding, “No!”
The Executive Leadership Council has been instrumental in getting people prepared to serve in C suites and on boards.
ELC has developed a focus on boosting the numbers of African-American corporate board members through such measures as the recent African American Directors Forum in Pittsburgh, which resulted in the successful placement of eight new board members at major corporations in 2019.
Efforts like these are critical to leveling the playing field for people of color. As a collective, we have to support these efforts. You can’t drop funding for ELC and you cannot “just wait it out.” People of color will never connect at the right levels if we don’t have backing of folks like ELC.
Well done, Skip. Well done.
19 Oct 2019
For the past seven years, Black Enterprise has produced our annual Power in the Boardroom report, examining black representation and participation in corporate governance at the nation’s largest publicly traded corporations. As such, we have focused on companies that comprise the entire universe of the Standard & Poor’s 500 to gain a complete and comprehensive picture of corporate diversity and inclusion at the highest level.
Read the full article here.
19 Oct 2019
Scores of black board members who represent the corporate elite made a bit of history as they were honored at the spectacular National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. BLACK ENTERPRISE saluted those listed on its just-released Registry of Corporate Directors, an exclusive club whose members serve on the boards of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies.
Read the details here.
19 Oct 2019
Time for boards to break down their own barriers.
One of the common barriers when it comes to getting more diverse voices in the boardroom is not seeing beyond your own networks.
Case in point. In an effort to diversify the board of a Fortune 500 company, a board member recommended his neighbor who was professor emeritus of information technology at a prominent university. The professor had great subject matter expertise on information technology but very limited business knowledge. He didn’t read the board materials in preparation for the board meeting which became obvious by the questions he asked during the meetings. He was ultimately not nominated to stand for reelection.
Read more here.
19 Oct 2019
Some lawmakers, regulators and shareholders are actively encouraging boards to recruit diverse candidates by setting quotas for diverse hires; and California’s recently passed law mandating gender diversity is just the most recent example.
But are such moves really helping companies in desperate need of new and unique voices in the boardroom? While increasing gender diversity on boards is of critical importance, the use of quotas and mandates may not necessarily achieve intended goals.
Read the full article here.
10 Oct 2019
If money talks, Starbucks Corp. CEO Kevin Johnson is about to get an earful.
When the coffee chain’s expanded board meets for the first time later this year with new members from Apple Inc., Nike Inc. and Domino’s Pizza Inc., the 13 executives around the table will represent public companies with $440 billion in combined revenue. Walt Disney Co. is the only other U.S. company with similar heft in the board room.
“If you’re at a high-rep, high-prestige company, you want to go on a similar board,” said David Larcker, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. “What that looks like changes over time.”
Read more here.
10 Oct 2019
Corporate directors think diversity improves their boards—they just don’t want to be bothered about it anymore.
Sixty-three percent of board directors now say that their investors devote too much attention to board gender diversity, according to PwC’s Annual Corporate Directors Survey. The last year seems to have pushed directors over the edge; only 35% said the same in 2018.
Read the article here.
09 Oct 2019
Heading into fall with eyes on 2020, corporate boards should brace for the increasing impact of digital migration, artificial intelligence (AI), and cultural shifts on their companies – and what this means for their role as directors, says WomenCorporateDirectorsFoundation(WCD).
Read the details here.
09 Oct 2019
Two experts share tips on expanding your candidate pool and ensuring that new members are heard.
Board diversity—or rather the lack thereof—has never been under more scrutiny.
In recent years, money managers like BlackRock and State Street have called for more diversity across corporate boardrooms, with the latter going so far as to announce it would begin voting against companies without any women directors. Legislation to encourage, or even mandate, diversity on boards is also gaining traction.
Read more here.
24 Sep 2019
Forbes recently shared a blog series on Finding Your Next Board Seat. Read more about finding your passion and expanding your skills by clicking on the articles below.
19 Sep 2019
Keynote Speaker and Panelists to Discuss Intersectionality, Code-Switching and the Importance of Allies
On Wednesday, October 2, the Women of Color and Their Allies one-day event, presented by DiversityInc, the dominant online diversity publication, will identify workplace challenges faced by women of color. The day-long conference will take place at the Hilton Atlanta Downtown Hotel.
Read more here.
10 Sep 2019
Heading into fall with eyes on 2020, corporate boards should brace for the increasing impact of digital migration, artificial intelligence (AI), and cultural shifts on their companies – and what this means for their role as directors, says WomenCorporateDirectorsFoundation(WCD).
Read the details here.
10 Sep 2019
Two experts share tips on expanding the candidate pool and ensuring that new members are heard.
Organizations need to reassess their goals for the board, including how to consider expertise and other factors unique to the organization, when creating selection criteria.
Read more about how boards can be more diverse here.
04 Sep 2019
Top fund manager Vanguard Group Inc will ask companies about the gender, age and race of their directors, adding pressure on U.S. companies to diversify their leadership.
“We are expanding our focus to more explicitly urge boards to seek greater diversity across a wide range of personal characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, and age,” Vanguard wrote.
Read more here.
04 Sep 2019
If you are thinking about becoming a corporate board member, click the link below to read through a few questions to gauge your readiness and fitness for the task.
Read the full article here.
A group of Midwest investors want to boost boardroom diversity across the region
14 Aug 2019
An initiative from investors across the Midwest aims to increase the diversity of company boards throughout the region, and they’re utilizing a technique born from the NFL to help companies find diverse candidates.
The Midwest Investors Diversity Initiative (MIDI), a group of institutional investors from Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, looks to boost the number of women and people of color on the boards of companies based in the Midwest.
Read more here.
9 Aug 2019
A recent report by McKinsey found that knowledge-intensive industries and creative occupations are the largest and fastest-growing segments of the gig economy. Businesses are hiring experts who can advise at a high-level and in detail on how to navigate top business challenges like artificial intelligence, cyber-security, cash flow management, or new technology trends. According to a Forrester survey, 88% of companies agree that specialized talent is essential to the long-term viability of their organization.
This is where on-demand advisors come into play. High-level executives who are deep industry experts are contracted at an hourly rate for an agreed-upon length of time, whether it’s to meet for an hour about an HR crisis, extend to a longer engagement to help facilitate an IPO, or somewhere in between.
Read the article here.
31 July 2019
AT&T has added former BET Networks head Debra Lee to its board of directors.
“Debra’s outstanding leadership, deep expertise and strong track record in the entertainment and media industry will be terrific additions to our board of directors,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “Her unique perspective as a media industry leader and operations executive, and her lifetime commitment to community service give her valuable insights I look forward to having on our board.”
Read more here.
25 Jul 2019
Simply Good Foods Company, a developer, marketer and seller of branded nutritional foods and snacking products, announced the appointment of James D. White to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. White will also join the Company’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Read the press release here.
26 June 2019
Many thanks to @rosavargas for this very practical bit of guidance. As minorities seeking Board selections, we are accustomed to being the “only one” in certain situations as well as having to work a bit harder than our peers. This content provides a very clear path forward for candidates of color looking to stand out from the pack. We are often hesitant to tout our own, significant accomplishments. I can’t tell you how many CVs come across my desk with phrases like “team leader” or “collaborator.” Those are perfectly fine descriptors but when you want people to guide your company. Are you looking for a team leader or a change agent? Are you looking for a turnaround leader or a collaborator? Words matter. And in the struggle for Board selection, we have to position ourselves in the best possible light.
Read more here.
21 Jun 2019
A new six-month fellowship for African American executives is quashing the myth that diverse talent is hard to find.
The fellowship was created by The Leverage Network, a membership organization that seeks to diversify healthcare boards, in partnership with Ernst & Young and executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
“I’m extremely excited to offer an initiative like this, because it will play a key role in improving health outcomes for African Americans by transforming board governance in healthcare organizations,” Antoinette Hardy-Waller, CEO of The Leverage Network, said in a statement. “Our goal is to promote up to 45 executives on their journey to directorship over the course of three years.”
Read more here.
17 June 2019
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Chair of the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets, on Thursday introduced the Diversity in Corporate Leadership Act of 2019, to ensure that investors and the public have the information they need about the gender, racial, and ethnic diversity of corporate boards.
Read more here.
17 June 2019
Key Points
Read the full article here.
11 June 2019
Legislation that aimed to diversify corporate boards in Illinois passed during the final days of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session, but was stripped of a key provision that would have mandated minority representation.
The bill, H.B. 3394, would have required Illinois companies to have at least one woman, an African-American and a Latino on their boards. But the version that passed the Senate dropped that requirement in favor of one mandating that publicly traded companies in Illinois report on their websites the demographics of their board and executive ranks as well as plans for promoting diversity in the workplace. The bill, which is now on its way to the governor’s desk, also requires an annual report card on Illinois companies’ diversity to be published by the University of Illinois.
Read more here.
31 May 2019
During Facebook’s annual shareholder meeting, eight members were elected to Facebook’s board of directors, including PayPal executive Peggy Alford, who’ll be the first African-American woman to join the board.
www.cnet.com
30 May 2019
Key Points
– Women filled 40% of new board seats in 2018, the highest percentage in the 10-year history of the report
– Racially and ethnically diverse new board appointees in 2018 remained at 23%, unchanged from 2017
– Consumer experience for board appointees outpaced financial experience for the first time
Read more here.
30 May 2019
When board members ACTT, the culture will never go back to what it was before. Organizational silos will break down. Cohesiveness will increase. And, ultimately, productivity will rise. Find out how to define and apply ACTT.
Read the full article here.
14 May 2019
Read more here.
13 May 2019
Key Points
Read the full article here.
8 May 2019
The long-overdue pursuit by boards of public companies to get finally serious about raising their games by diversifying membership by gender, ethnicity, and age is overlooking an additional extraordinarily critical goal: bringing on directors whose careers are marked by broad operational experience working on the ground in a variety of international geographies, both in other mature countries, and arguably even more important, in fast-growing emerging markets.
Read the full article here.
2 May 2019
Synovus Financial Corporation has announced the election of Teresa White, president of Aflac U.S., to its Board of Directors. White has served as president of Aflac U.S., the operating U.S. insurance businesses for Aflac Incorporated, since October 2014.
Read more here.
30 Apr 2019
How many outside board positions are too many?
The asset manager Vanguard is taking a firm position on the issue of director overboarding. Its new proxy voting guidelines for U.S. portfolio companies essentially sets a limit on four directorships (and only one outside board for the CEO), in order to help address the demands of board and committee membership. In doing so, Vanguard makes a major contribution to the growing discussion about the impact of external commitments and distractions on director and CEO effectiveness.
Read the full article here.
23 Apr 2019
In this first-of-its-kind initiative, the Thirty Percent Coalition partners with the Nathan Cummings Foundation to bring attention to the small percentage (3.5%) of women of color on S&P 1500 Corporate Boards. The Coalition recently sent letters to companies in the S&P 1500 asking them to consider the value of adding women of color to their boards and inviting these companies to a series of regional events this fall.
Read the press release here.
12 Apr 2019
Facebook has nominated Peggy Alford as the third woman to sit on its board of directors.
If elected, Alford will be the board’s second black person (former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault being the first) and first black woman. Under a recently enacted California law, the company has to have a third female on its board by 2021. The vote will take place at the company’s stockholders meeting on May 30.
Read the full story here.
03 Apr 2019
Developing your own brand, your personal positioning, is a very important practice and the first step in landing a board seat. You will want to be crisp in distilling your career into three major digestible, thoughtful points. They should include industry background, your functional expertise, and what stage of company you are a best fit for.
Read the full article here.
27 Mar 2019
Board diversity matters but concentrating on only one form of diversity isn’t enough. Interviewees suggested that social diversity (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, and age diversity) and professional diversity are both important for increasing the diversity of perspectives represented on the board.
Read the report here.
01 Feb 2019
Having worked in financial communications for a number of Fortune 500 companies and being familiar with earnings reports, when I see percentage increases reported, I’m always a bit skeptical. When news stories lead with percentage growth, I have a natural tendency to ask, “From what base?”
Reading the recent, “Missing Pieces Report” trigged my instincts. In the report, the number of Fortune 500 companies with greater than 40 percent diversity has more than doubled from 69 to 145 since 2012. The full report is called, “Missing Pieces Report: The 2018 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards,” and it is a multiyear study published by the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD), in collaboration with Deloitte1.
The report did contain good news. Any increase in the diversity of Fortune 500 boards can only be taken as good news because it represents progress. But terms like “all-time high” and “rapid shifts” should be used with caution.
Were the numbers reported pure financial metrics, most Wall Street analysts would offer a fairly lukewarm response.
The new numbers do represent increases but we have to ask, “from how big of a base?” The representation of women and minorities moved to 34 percent (1,929 board seats), compared to 30.8 percent in 2016 (1,677 board seats). Total minority representation increased to 16.1 percent (912 board seats) from 12.8 percent in 2010.
Let’s celebrate progress but be wary of viewing this as a victory. Much work remains in this area. I encourage you to read the data here.