According to Forbes, a new analysis shows the clear impact of last year’s Black Lives Matter movement on the makeup of newly chosen corporate directors.
A record 47% of new directors were from racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds, compared to just 22% the year before.
In its annual U.S. Board Index released Tuesday, the executive search firm Spencer Stuart found that 33% of newly added independent directors named to corporate boards were Black, a threefold increase from the 11% of new directors who were Black in the year prior.
In total, a record 47% of new directors were from racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds, compared to just 22% the year before. This year’s analysis covered proxy statements released between May 2020 and May 2021.
Beyond last year’s racial reckoning, mandates by the state of California and the Nasdaq stock exchange to add diverse board members helped to draw a “line in the sand,” Julie Daum (of Spencer Stuart) says, as have efforts by institutional investors to press for more diversity.
