The murder of George Floyd galvanized the need for racial reform and equity in the U.S., and boards have been listening. Data from the consulting firm ISS Corporate Solutions reveals that between July 2020 and May 2021, 32% of individuals newly appointed to the corporate boards within the country’s largest S&P 500 companies were Black — up from 11% the previous year.
But still, even with those gains, there is a massive gap to overcome, according to a new study conducted by the Alliance of Board Diversity and the consulting firm Deloitte.
Alexandra Olson and Stan Choe of the Associated Press have reported on the “Missing Pieces Report: A Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards,” which shows that “an overwhelming 82.5% of directors among Fortune 500 company boards are [still] white.”