More than a Dozen Companies Pledge to Include At Least One Black Director in Their Boards

According to reports from news outlets more than a dozen companies recently pledged to include at least one black person to their boards within the next year. This comes as many companies are more determined to ensure that their leadership reflects their diverse customers.

According to statistics of Black Enterprise, more than a third of the companies listed on the S&P 500 did not have even one black director in 2019, putting the percentage at 37 percent compared to 39 percent in the year before.

As a result of the poor representation of blacks in the top positions of many big companies, as a result of that, 17 companies recently pledged to add at least a black director within the next 12 months, according to AP News. The 17 companies are Accolade, Altimeter Growth, Amperity, Bolster, Gusti, Heritage-Crystal Clean., Heritage Environmental Services, HopSkipDrive, Kin, M.M. LaFluer, Nextdoor, PagerDuty, RealSelf, Ripple, Senreve, Vinyl Me, Please, and Zillow.

“America has been reminded again in a tragic fashion that we must redouble our efforts to build a more inclusively society,” said Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital and co-founder of The Board Challenge. “Business leaders can’t let this moment pass us by without playing our part and taking this tangible step to build a more diverse board room.”

The Board Challenge was founded to encourage more companies to promote cultural diversity on their boards. The co-founders will check in with the listed companies after six months and again at the end of the 12-month time frame. They will also assist some of the companies find the right candidates to fill the available positions.s

This is a good step towards closing up the racial disparity space and promoting racial equity. Some people have responded to this move by saying that such initiatives should have been put in place long ago.