When it comes to how diverse corporate boards are today and where the trend is going, the numbers are either heartening or discouraging – depending on your viewpoint. The proportion of women grew from 19 percent in 2015 to 31 percent in 2022, according to recruiting(check) firm Heidrick & Struggles’ “Board Monitor US 2023.” However, that progress has slowed in recent years and has accrued mostly to the benefit of white women. The proportion of Black directors has nearly doubled since 2015, to 17 percent in 2022. A surge of enthusiasm prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement had increased that percentage to 28 percent in 2020, but it has waned since then. [...]

The process of appointing powerful board directors has been put into the spotlight in recent years, as companies, courts, governments, investors and even a stock exchange weigh in. For the most part, they’re proposing and implementing changes to bring the process into the open and hold boards more accountable for who serves on them. This period of transition may mark the beginning of a new era that’s defined by accountability and inclusivity in the highest levels of authority. Colleen Ammerman, director of the Race, Gender and Equity Initiative at Harvard Business School, said she is seeing a “significant shift” in the appetite for change. [...]

Securing a first seat on a corporate board can feel like climbing a mountain. Competition is fierce, and the search process can be opaque, often favoring certain groups (white men who are current or former CEOs) and excluding others (women, people of color, and other executives who bring a different set of professional experiences). This pattern perpetuates the status quo, especially when current directors continue to draw candidates solely from their own networks. As a result, the barrier to entry remains high for those who don't fit the traditional mold or lack access to these circles. A whole crop of diverse networking groups such as Harvard Business School’s Board Diversity Network has sprung up to help. [...]

Cheryl Beninga waved her cell phone to sum up the impact she’s had as a board member and investor in the technology world. The GPS on that phone? She helped make that possible. The gaming? Check. The Bluetooth? That too. Beninga was in the marketing department at Intel Corp. in the late 1990s when she realized her product was headed for trouble. The company didn’t have the graphics capability that her overdrive upgrade processor needed. Pinpointing the problem was easier than persuading someone to listen. Eventually, she said, Intel realized that the problem affected not only her product but also the entire company, and they dispatched her to buy a graphics company. Then, Intel’s investment team snapped her up. [...]

During a business meeting full of men, Roberta Sydney was not shy about setting them straight, especially when they assumed she was there to get coffee and take notes. It was her name on the door of the real estate development company, she firmly explained. “There are always opportunities to be miscast when you look different than people expect,” she said. Her directness, combined with compassion and a willingness to work on learning skills such as board leadership, has helped her succeed in not one, but two male-dominated industries: financial services and real estate/construction. [...]