Keeping Score of Latino Board Representation
Diversity in America is not black and white. A truly diverse boardroom is inclusive of Latinos.
The new California law, AB 979, calls public companies to have a specific number of board members from underrepresented communities by 2022. In response to it, the Latino Corporate Directors Association and its members continue to advocate for the community and the transparency needed. “We made a commitment to board diversity and today have the most diverse board in the U.S. technology sector," stated Enrique Lores, CEO of HP Inc. "Our company and stakeholders benefit from Latinx board leadership and we applaud the efforts of LCDA to connect companies with top Latinx talent.”
LCDA is not alone. Together with its more than five partner organizations such as UnidosUS, LULAC, and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the future of representation in Corporate America looks extremely different.
Last month, the LCDA launched the first of its kind California Boardroom Equity Scorecard and Tracker, a valuable resource for stakeholders and shareholders and the only publicly available tool that tracks the number of Latino/as on public company boards in California.
What does the Scorecard and Tracker do exactly? As part of the LCDA’s Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity initiative, the new measurement reports the progress of over 650 California public companies and their board composition on a quarterly basis. It truly calls to provide the transparency needed to hold California public companies accountable for the inclusion of Latinos in the boardroom.
In California, nearly 40% of the population is Latino. Meanwhile, the Scorecard reflects how 2.1% of Latinos are the least represented on California public company and it really doesn’t seem like new appointments are changing this data. A recent LCDA analysis reveals that 37% of California companies have all-white boards of directors.
"California is home to over 15 million Latinos, including 800,000 Latino business owners, with purchasing power of $320 billion annually. Corporations must do better.” said California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo.
As for the Tracker, stakeholders and stockholders are provided with all the information about the state of Latino and Latina positions on California corporate boards. Today, the Tracker reflects the 14% of California public companies which have Latinos on their boards. LCDA continues its work by partnering with Equilar, another organization advocating and providing corporate leadership data and solutions for business development, board recruiting, executive compensation and shareholder engagement.
Targeting corporations with no US Latino representation and tracking the progress through the publication of the quarterly scorecard will without a doubt lead to the LCDA’s goal of tripling the US Latino representation on pubic companies by 2023.