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University of Pittsburgh Law Professor Douglas Branson calls these women “trophy directors.” Factoring for this, and counting only “unique” women, the percentage of women falls to ten percent. Branson also finds that “52 percent of large, public companies have either no women directors or just one, and he presumes that the lone woman is a token.” (Branson, Douglas, “No Seat at the Table: How Corporate Governance and Law Keep Women Out of the Boardroom,” NYU Press.)
Bobbi: I caught up with Linda Bolliger, Founder and President of Boardroom Bound®, recently, and asked her why she took up the challenge of working to diversify corporate boards:
Linda: In 1987 I, along with other Capital Area Chapter members of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), was involved with hearings on the Status of Women Business Ownership held by the House sub-committee on small business.
We brought in very accomplished Women Business Owners to testify. They did a great job because Congress passed the HR 50-50, the Women’s Business Ownership Act (1988). The new law stopped banks from requiring men to co-sign women’s business loans, set aside $10 million for SBA to fund Women’s Entrepreneurial Training Centers, required the Department of Defense to set aside 2.5 per cent of its contracts for women and created the National Women’s Business Advisory Council.
While observing the hearings, I learned that none of these women were serving on external boards even though they had business credentials equal to, or superior to many men found in boardrooms back then. Our chapter of NAWBO approached the Rockefeller Foundation for funds to research and do a feasibility study on women and business board service. Our request was turned down, in part because quantitative data, that suggested women could bring value to the boardroom, didn’t yet exist.
That changed in 1997 thanks to Judy Rosener, Ph.D., a business professor at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Rosener wrote the book that provided data establishing the link between diversity and corporate profitability. When we launched Boardroom Bound in 1999, Dr. Rosener was the keynote speaker at our kick-off event in Washington, DC.
Bobbi: What was the first big breakthrough for Boardroom Bound®?
Linda: In 2003, we were asked to find someone who related to the Hispanic community and could serve on the audit committee of a publicly traded board. Although we had over 300 candidates by then in our National Candidate Database that we had trained and pre-qualified for board service, none of them offered a strong enough match to justify an interview.
That’s when we turned to the presidents of organizations that had aligned with us. We asked them to help us find individuals who met the requirements and fielded over 200 resumes to vet. After narrowing the field down to five, we did our due diligence and passed up three names to the company to interview. During the interview process, the audit committee chair resigned and the candidate selected by Wyndham International, Inc., walked in as chair of the audit committee.
That was huge for us because we had found 11 qualified candidates when the “experts” predicted the Hispanic business community wouldn't yield qualified women for the post. Boardroom Bound made history with the first Latina ever to chair the audit committee of a publicly traded company.
Bobbi: All trailblazers seem to have a funny story. Has anything comical happened to you along the way?
Linda: While keynoting a business school luncheon not too long ago, the Master of Ceremonies introduced me as the Founder of “Bedroom” Bound. There was a mixed response with some of those in the audience laughing uproariously while others seemed horrified. I thought it was hysterically funny and enjoy telling the story. The MC was a man.
Bobbi: What are the three things you want to accomplish in 2007?
Linda: We want to modernize and monetize our website and raise enough capital to bring on the kind of staff component that can really support our expansion into more cities. It’s really important to have local program capacity because most first board appointments will occur at the local level. We also want to continue providing Boardology® 101 training for independent, diverse director candidates who seek to translate their nonprofit governance and leadership skills into the business boardroom.
Bobbi: What are the major obstacles facing you?
Linda: Board service is the 21st century version of the “Old School Tie.” You either understand how it functions or you don't. Some cite overt discrimination as an obstacle for boardroom diversity. While I agree that discriminatory practices still exist and are far more nuanced than before, the biggest obstacle to increasing diversity in the boardroom is unfamiliarity with how the business board game is played.
This is why a Boardroom Bound program exists to teach the board game (Boardology© 101) to help accelerate the diversification of corporate boards.
Today, Boardroom diversification is a demographic inevitability because future business leaders are far more diverse than in the past. The rub is that America's ability to maintain an edge in the global economy against emerging and developing countries like China and India isn't a lock. We need our top talent in tomorrow's boardroom, which makes board diversification a national economic imperative.
Bobbi: When will you know you’ve succeeded, or do you already know that?
Linda: On an operative level, we are succeeding in single, two, and three digit numbers. For example, we have a footprint in 4 cities. We’re aligned with over 30 other organizations and businesses, which includes NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. We’ve trained and pre-qualified over 500 candidates and worked with 24 companies to produce 26 appointments.
To get where America needs us to go, Boardroom Bound will have to trade in much larger numbers. Our Call to Action is 50 by 15, which means 50% diversity representation in the boardroom by 2015.
If you are interested in serving on a Corporate Board, attend one of these upcoming training opportunities:
Pipeline Seminar, April 12-13, 2007, New York City, featuring John Rogers, CEO, Ariel Capital, who serves on the Board of Directors of Aon Corporation, and McDonald’s Corporation.
Pipeline Seminar, June 14-15, 2007, Washington, DC.
Pipeline Seminar, September 27-28, 2007, Chicago.
Pipeline Seminar, November 8-9, 2007, San Francisco.
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