In early February the Alliance for Board Diversity issued its report on diversity at Fortune 500 boards of directors. It demonstrated, for example, that as of 2016 there were virtually no Asian American women among the 5,400 board members at Fortune 500 corporations. That is, only thirteen women. Further, it demonstrated that only 25 of the 5,400 board members were Asian Pacific Islander men.The report did not break down Asian Americans by subethnic groups, but we believe that the very small number of Asian Americans did not include Vietnamese Americans, Filipino Americans, Pacific Islanders, or other Asian American groups known as Southeast Asians, even though they represent the vast majority of our nation’s more than 20 million Asian Americans.
Latinos also did very poorly. For example, there were only fourteen Latinas among Fortune 500 corporation boards of directors, and overall only 4.5% of board members were Latino.
Although African Americans did substantially better in terms of representation, we are concerned that over the last twelve years there is declining interest in African Americans on boards of directors. That is, the number of African Americans on boards of directors still remains under 8% and African American women represent just 2% of board members.
Any agreements reached in 2017 with Fortune 500 corporations, or large corporations in general, should include a reference, and perhaps a demand, for greater board of director diversity, including a reference to minority women.
This lack of diversity at Fortune 500 corporations generally should be considered in, for example, regulatory decisions to allow the charter of new banks, and should be a reference point for bank expansion, particularly when banks seek to become “medium” or “large” banks.
Among the thirty Fortune 500 corporations with the broadest diversity (attached), we work with a number of these companies. This includes PG&E, US Bancorp, Sempra Energy, Wells Fargo, and Time Warner Cable. Also among companies that are listed in the top thirty are PepsiCo and Altria.
