Companies pledge to add at least 1 Black director to board
NEW YORK (AP) — More than a dozen companies, including Zillow and M.M.LaFleur, are promising to add at least one Black director to their boards within the next year, as businesses across America slowly get their leadership to look more like the customers they serve.
The companies all made the pledge as part of the launch of an initiative by The Board Challenge, which is pushing to get more diversity into boardrooms. The Board Challenge's co-founders will check in with each of them after six months and again at 12 months to monitor their progress, while also helping them to find candidates.
“America has been reminded again in tragic fashion that we must redouble our efforts to build a more inclusive society,” Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital and a co-founder of The Board Challenge, said in a statement. “Business leaders can’t let this moment pass us by without playing our part and taking this tangible step to build a more diverse boardroom.”
Companies have been making slow progress in getting people who aren’t white men into leadership positions. Across the big companies in the S&P 500 index, more than a third did not have a single Black director in 2019, according to Black Enterprise. The rate of 37% was down slightly from 39% a year before.
In many cases, forces outside the companies are pushing for better representation in the board room and in senior executive ranks. Shareholders, governments and other proponents say it makes business sense for companies’ leadership to reflect the customers they serve and the workforces they oversee. It can get a more diverse set of opinions and experiences into the decision-making process.
In recent years, shareholders and governments have been putting heavier pressure on companies to add women in particular to their boards. California, for example,...
