“While we are addressing diversity on boards from the perspective of women we have left out of the conversation diversity in terms of ethnicity and that’s important,” said Debra Valentine Gray, Regional Director of Advancement at Indiana University of Pennsylvania during the event expressing a concern she and several other African Americans had about the National Conversation on Board Diversity event. “It is an important piece that we must address. Not only do we want women on boards but we also want people of color. Women of color, men of color because that brings the topic into more of an inclusive conversation.” Gray was one of four African Americans on the Pittsburgh host committee.
Darcel Madkins, Business Analyst at PNC Bank, also a Pittsburgh host committee member views the efforts of the organization as a start. In agreement with Gray, her solution is for the 2017 committee to work harder to get more people of color involved and aware. “As an African American woman, I would like to see more people of color work with 2020 Women on Boards to ensure that going forward each event, audience member and or participant has adequate representation.” Admitting that there seemed to be a low number of African Americans in the room, she pointed out that “the true Pittsburgh” is less than 28 percent of African Americans.
The morning of activities consisted of a panel discussion on the topic of a roadmap on how to become board ready, an awards presentation recognizing Leroy M. Ball, president and CEO of Koppers for his commitment to nurturing board diversity and roundtable leadership development discussions titled Experience: delivering solid business results; Exposure: building your skills and knowledge; Excellence; building and sustaining strategic networks.
Earlier this year 2020 Women on Boards published a study, Boardroom Diversity: When Women Lead which examines the board composition of 960 companies on the 2015 Fortune 1000 list which indicates that there is a strong correlation between the gender of a company’s key leaders and the diversity of its board of directors.
Several key findings of the study indicated; boards with female CEOs, Board Chairs, or Nominating Committee Chairs are significantly more gender diverse than boards with male leadership; of the Fortune 1000 companies with a female CEO or Board Chair, 88 percent and 86 percent of companies respectively have already met or surpassed 2020 Women on Boards’ goal of having 20 percent or more women on the board comparing to 42 percent of all Fortune 1000 companies; The board seats held by women are not monopolized by an elite subset of individuals. In Fortune 1000 companies, 1839 female board seats are held by 1386 women. Most sit on a single Fortune 1000 company board, although many may also serve on smaller company or non-profit boards. Also noted is that 12 women serve on four or more Fortune 1000 boards coming from a variety of professional backgrounds including law, politics, academia, and non-CEO executive positions as well as the C-suite. Classified as the “Amazing Dozen” it shows that there are a multitude of paths to the boardroom and that America’s top companies value diversity of experience. Three of the Amazing Dozen are African American women. Alexis M. Herman served as the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. Donna A. James has been a Consultant, Business Advisor, President and Managing Director of Lardon and Associates LLC since March 2006 and Joyce M. Roche served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Girls, Inc. from 2000 until her retirement in 2010.
Already planning for 2017 events, Madkins encourages interested parties to get involved by contacting Hemmings by telephone: 412-575-5900 or email: khemmings@coghillinvestmentstrategies.com. “Going forward, I ask all to show up and pull up a chair and have a seat at the table,” she stressed.
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