ELEVATING THE CALL FOR GREATER HISPANIC/LATINO INCLUSION ON CORPORATE BOARDS- CID WILSON

The recent release of the 2020 US Census data confirms what we have known for decades. The Latino population is growing, and Corporate America is taking note of our increasing economic influence. While we are seeing a burgeoning presence of Latinos in corporate America in early career to mid-level management positions, there is a significant drop-off at senior-level positions and the corporate boards.

PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE HISPANIC ASSOCIATION ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY.

LAST JUNE, the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD) and Deloitte jointly released our Missing Pieces Report: The Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards which documented in detail the current and historical diversity of Fortune 500 corporate boards over the last ten years. The ABD organizations comprise Catalyst, The Executive Leadership Council, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), and Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) with Diversified Search as a consulting member.

The report showed that Latinos make up only 4.1% of all Fortune 500 corporate boards seats with Latinas representing just 1.0%. While our representation is poor among Fortune 500 boards, it's worse when you look at the thousands of mid-capitalization and small-capitalization publicly traded and privately held corporate boards.

While there are many theories on why corporate America has lagged in its inclusion of Latinos on corporate boards, one thing is certain: Unless there is visible accountability for board diversity, those boards will continue to default to their status quo. That is why HACR and many diversity-focused organizations are taking our advocacy beyond the diversity-focused gatherings and towards industry-focused national and global gatherings, including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where HACR has had a presence since 2018, as well as other major gatherings with a history of attracting CEOs, board directors, boards chairs, and nominations/governance chairs among the attendees.

Earlier this year, HACR joined with many other diversity-focused organization in calling on the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to support Nasdaq’s proposal to mandate diversity of underrepresented communities or explain in a disclosure why it has not done so. I’m pleased that the SEC has done the right thing and approved the Nasdaq proposal. This is significant because we know that while there is a lack of ethnic and racial diversity on Fortune 500 corporate boards, there is far less diversity on the mid-capitalization and small-capitalization companies, many of which trade on Nasdaq. Not surprisingly, the Latino representation on boards at smaller corporations is even lower than it is at Fortune 500 corporations.

State legislative initiatives can magnify the impact, and California’s law that requires diversity of underrepresented communities and institutional investor initiatives is a good example. HACR will continue to strongly advocate for greater Hispanic inclusion at all levels of corporate America, including on corporate boards. There are many things that every person can do to support the board diversity movement, including activating your shareholder communications, attending shareholder annual meetings, and amplifying the call for greater Hispanic inclusion on corporate boards on your own social media platforms. As we raise our voices together, corporate America will increasingly hear the message and shift its corporate culture to meet the demands for greater Hispanic inclusion.

HACR and many diversity-focused organizations have programs that prepare candidates for board service. But corporate America must do more to change the culture of their boardrooms towards one that promotes inclusion of Latino board directors. This is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do, as our country becomes increasingly diverse. The many companies that are getting it right deserve our praise. Meanwhile, others not only lack ethnic and racial diversity, but still fall short on gender diversity. This movement may be a long journey, but together, HACR and our collaborative institutional and organizational allies are prioritizing swift change.