Latinos Left Out of California Boardroom Diversity Progress; Most Underrepresented With 39.4% of Population and Only 2.3% of CA Board Seats

Latinas Represent Only 1% of California Board Seats, 56% of California companies lack a woman of color on the board

News provided by

Latino Corporate Directors Association

Apr 27, 2021, 08:39 ET

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Latino Corporate Directors Association and Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity, today released the Q1 2021 California Boardroom Equity Scorecard revealing no progress for Latinos from the previous quarter. Latinos remain the most underrepresented in California boardrooms with only 2.3% of directorships despite making up 39% of the state's population. The Q1 2021 Scorecard further reports a decrease of board seats for White directors from 82.7% to 81.2%, an increase for Asian directors 10% to 10.9% and Black directors 3.5% to 4%. The Scorecard cumulatively monitors California public company board composition, starting July 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 and calculates the percentage of directorships and new board appointments held by gender, race, and ethnicity.

California SB 826, enacted in 2018, has been successful in adding White female directors to boards. AB 979 mandates the inclusion of underrepresented communities on boards, but, to date, 56% of California public company boardrooms have no women of color.

At the end of Q1 2021, female directors held 26.8% of California public company directorships. White female directors (20.2%) held the most board seats, Asian females (3.3%) saw gains over Black females (2.0%) and Latina (1%) directorships.

"Women drive consumption, and all corporations would benefit from having women of color in the boardroom. Latinas are a fast-growing segment of California and the U.S. population, but hold the least amount of board seats. Corporations need to represent their customers and employees in the boardroom; it's not just the right thing to do, but good for their bottom line," said California Legislative Women's Caucus Chair, Assemblymember Cristina Garcia.

In partnership with Equilar, LCDA tracked 951 new board appointments made by California public companies between July 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021. The start date of July 2020 coincides with the introduction of California AB 979 which became law on September 30, 2020. Tracking reveals White directors continue to receive the largest number of new board appointments:

White directors gained the most seats (649), followed by Asian (148), Black (102), and Latino (29) directors.
Males (60.3%) continue to surpass females (39.7%) in new board appointments.
White females gained (240) the most seats, while Asian females added (64), Black females (53) and Latinas (17) board seats.

"Our research raises concern about the 83% of California public companies that lack the Latino perspective on their board. Latinos are two in ten Americans and account for 25% of national GDP. The Latino Voices initiative serves as a resource to US public companies with the goal of connecting them with Latino talent," said Esther Aguilera, LCDA President and CEO.

LCDA and the Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity initiative advocate for greater representation of Latinos on corporate boards. The quarterly Scorecard provides transparency regarding the gender, ethnic, and racial composition of California boards, so that investors, shareholders, and stakeholders, including consumers and employees, can make informed decisions about the companies they do business with and invest in.

ABOUT LCDA:
The Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) is a national organization promoting C-level and board diversity to maximize business success. LCDA serves as an advocate and resource to corporate boards, search firms, private equity, and institutional investors interested in gaining access to exceptional Latino board talent. Our program areas focus on growing the supply of high-caliber boardroom candidates and providing quality corporate governance programming for experienced and aspiring directors.

ABOUT Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity:
In September 2020, LCDA launched Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity, in partnership with a growing list of national Latinos organizations including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), UnidosUS, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), and the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). This initiative asserts diversity without the inclusion of Latinos is not acceptable. The objective of the Latino Voices initiative is to triple US Latino representation on public company boards by 2023 by targeting corporations with no US Latino representation and tracking progress through the publication of a quarterly scorecard.