Convenience

346
Part 4:
Leading
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LEADING THE WAY
Diversity Still Lagging in the Boardroom
“It’s been proven again and again,” says Carl Brooks,
CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, a network
of senior African American executives, “that compa-
nies with board members who reflect gender and
ethnic diversity also tend to have better returns on
equity and sales.” According to Marc H. Morial,
CEO of the National Urban League, which promotes
economic empowerment for African Americans, a
minority presence on corporate boards is also
necessary to protect the interests of minority consu-
mers and other stakeholders: “African American
voices and perspectives,” he argues, “are needed
on corporate boards to ensure that business deci-
sions affecting Black America are both responsible
and sensitive to the needs of our communities.”
Unfortunately, says Morial, “African Americans
still represent a miniscule fraction of board-level cor-
porate leadership in America.” Citing a recent study
by the Executive Leadership Council, Morial points
out that the number of blacks on Fortune 500 boards
has actually
declined
in recent years: Even though
blacks comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population,
representation
on
corporate
boards
stands
at
“a meager 7 percent.”
The same trend was confirmed with the release
of the U.S. Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force
report on minority and women representation on
Fortune 500
boards and executive teams (CEOs
plus their direct reports). Here are some of the
survey’s findings:
• Women comprise 18 percent of all board mem-
bers and just under 20 percent of executive team
members (roughly one in five). Those figures, of
course, are far below the 50-percent proportion of
women in the population.
• Minorities comprise 14.5 percent of all directors—
about one out of every seven—and an even
smaller percentage of executive-team members.
That’s less than half of their 35-percent proportion
of the population.
• Although African Americans boast the highest
minority representation on boards—8.8 percent—
that’s equivalent to only 69 percent of their total
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A
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hutterstock.com
Most experts agree that diversity among group members can contribute to better decisions and
solutions. But while many organizations strive to promote diversity within teams and work groups
such as this one, most boards of directors of large businesses still have relatively little diversity.
(
Continued
)