April 2021 Report Summary

April 2021 Women Joining Public Boards Report at Record Level– April 44% Percent of Women Appointees after past six months averaging 40%; 21.8 % women of color in April

The number of women appointed to public boards rose in April 2021. In April, women comprised 44% of all public board appointments: public companies appointed 147 women and 87 men to their boards. The women appointed continue to identify as diverse with 32 women in April identifying as diverse. 17 of the 32 women, 53.12%, identified as African American, closely followed by 9 Asian/Pacific Islanders, 5 women identifying as Hispanic and 1 woman identifying as Middle Eastern/North African. The New York Times, Broadway Financial Corporation and BioLife Solutions, are some of the companies that appointed diverse women to their board. This trend towards including diverse voices in leadership is one that continues.

During our April 27th Executive Roundtable, “Flipping the Script on Private Company Board Diversity” co-hosted with our partners at Bolster, experts covered the important role Independent Directors play on private company boards – and how we can ensure more diversity on private company boards. Fabrice Houdart, Managing Director, Global Equity Initiatives, Out Leadership, commented, “we need to start asking and supporting diverse individuals so they can be tracked. What is not measured, is not achieved.”

Of the 147 women appointed to the boards of public companies, 88 were first time board appointments. Some of these first time board appointments hold board seats at Expedia Group, Inc. and Wilhelmina International, Inc. We will continue to watch and monitor this trend to ensure that the number of women occupying board seats across all industries continues to grow and the pipeline strong.

In April, healthcare companies led the way in the appointment of women followed by industrials and financial services with 14.2% of women filling board seats at industrial companies. In the financial services sector we see companies like Signature Bank and Lemonade Inc taking steps to appoint women.

The overall trends across companies continue to rise breaking the recent 40% mark and with up to 25% of the women identifying as women of color. Equilar and WBC are tracking and analyzing the growth and rotation of board seats and the expanding candidate pool. We will continue to track not only the women in terms of numbers, diversity and profile; but the companies and industries in which female board members are present and how many of the overall board seats are held by women. The time is now for women to sit across all companies, boards, and sectors. Please, join us in celebrating, tracking, analyzing, and promoting women on boards of public companies.