In a letter sent today to Mary Jo White, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) urged the SEC to take steps to address the lack of representation of women and minorities on corporate boards.
In his letter, Senator Casey cited several statistics from a recent Alliance Board for Diversity report to support his message, including:
- Only 13% of board seats among Fortune 500 companies are held by minorities.
- Only 15% of board seats among Fortune 500 companies are held by women.
It’s great to see politicians calling attention to the lack of diversity in the upper echelons of Corporate America and demanding common sense changes. Following is the full text of Senator Casey’s letter to Ms. White (printed with permission by a representative from Senator Casey’s office):
Honorable Mary Jo White
Chairman
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549Dear Ms. White:
I am writing to express my concern about the continuing lack of diversity in corporate boardrooms. According to a July 2011 report by the Alliance for Board Diversity, only 13 percent of board seats among Fortune 500 companies were held by minorities. The same report found that women were also seriously underrepresented in Fortune 500 boards, with men making up almost 85 percent of the seats.
This troubling underrepresentation of women and minorities on corporate boards is unfortunately present in Pennsylvania as well. A December 2010 report by the Urban League of Philadelphia surveyed the top 108 public companies in the Philadelphia region and found that African-Americans make up only 4 percent of board directors. This is in spite of the fact that African-Americans make up 44 percent of the City of Philadelphia’s population, and 20 percent of the region as a whole. In the Pittsburgh region, the 2011 Allegheny County Annual Report found that even though women represent a majority of the population in the region, they held only 14 percent of the board seats of Pittsburgh’s top 50 public companies. Clearly, we must do a better job of encouraging companies to select board members with a variety of different backgrounds and experiences.
I understand the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken some steps in recent years to promote diversity in corporate boardrooms, including requiring companies to disclose any diversity policy they have with regard to the selection of board members. I ask that you please update me on the efforts the SEC has taken so far, the effectiveness of these efforts, and what additional steps are being considered.
America must be the land of opportunity for all of its citizens. Ensuring diversity among our Nation’s business leaders is an important step towards this goal. I look forward to working with you to promote diversity in corporate boards.
Sincerely,
Robert P. Casey, Jr.
United States Senator
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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