Getting a seat at the table: why there is a lack of black representation on corporate boards.

In 1977, Reatha Clark King became a member of HB Fuller Co.'s board of directors, and thereby their first woman and their first African American director, as well as one of the first in corporate America. In more than 40 years, the number of African American board seats has risen consistently from zero in the '60s to 260 according to the 2004 census conducted by The Executive Leadership Council, a professional network for senior-level African American executives. But celebration would be premature. The ELC found that today 32% of the top 500 publicly traded companies have no African American board directors and 58% have at least one.

The census yielded a two-part report; the first, released in 2005, presented the numbers and identified all of the African American board members. This year, the ELC's Institute for Leadership Development & Research released part two: Implications and Recommendations of the 2004 Census of African Americans on Boards of Directors. It presented strategies and initiatives for candidates and corporations to "build a pipeline of African American [directors]," and give an additional voice to important issues of governance.

King, a member of ELC, attributes her appointment to her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Chicago, her business background, and to an HB Fuller board member who was an advocate for diversity. "I had the educational and experiential fit--the knowledge base to make it much easier for him to present me as a minority," she explains. King has since served on four additional corporate boards, including the General Mills Foundation where she was president from 1988 to 2002. She is currently a director on the Exxon Mobil and Lenox Group Inc. corporate boards.

Overall, however, black women hold only 2% of board positions. "Their representation is fairly abysmal," says Erika James, co-author of the study and associate dean of diversity at Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia as well as Bank of America Research Professor of Business Administration. In comparison, white women hold over five times more board seats (10.6%)--evidence of a clear double burden of race and gender. The report suggests that although black women are comparable to their male and female white counterparts in every dimension, they are not aggressively sought for board positions.

The report examines key factors for encouraging recruitment: Directors interviewed in the report list achievement in the corporate sector as the largest consideration for board recruitment (61%). In addition, they propose that African Americans "brand" themselves as an expert in a certain area, which makes them invaluable to a corporation, and express interest to colleagues, associates, mentors, and sponsors.

King also stresses that having a mentor is invaluable. Mentors are able to answer questions and offer guidance and coaching for board positions. Altria Group, parent of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris, sponsored a multiyear initiative to help increase the number of African Americans on corporate boards. The initiative's focus was on creating greater awareness among ELC members and getting them board certifications, which are highly coveted by corporations seeking directors says Carl Brooks, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council.

As part of the initiative, training sessions are held for executives within three levels of a CEO post at a top 500 publicly traded company twice annually during the Executive Leadership Council's Annual winter and spring membership meetings. A more accelerated training program is sponsored by Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management Both board certification processes provide advanced learning on all aspects of board service including parliamentary rules, understanding financials, board awareness, committee participation and functions, and strategic planning. "We do the gamut of training to make a person an effective board member," Brooks says.

Paula Cholmondeley, a director on five corporate boards, attended the training sessions in order to strengthen her skill set and understand new board trends. "The education of board members has become more critical," Cholmondeley imparts, attributing this change to corporate scandals such as those at Enron. Board members must now not only have experience but also a full understanding of governing policies and their responsibilities, which Cholmondeley says the education sessions have provided.

But Brooks emphasizes that the corporations and professional organizations must also become more engaged in increasing black representation. "There's no void in expertise," he says. "So it's really going to be a matter of being more effective relative to nominating committees and more effective relating to CEOs, to ensure that they understand the value, the importance, and the fact that there is this tremendous resource available in properly trained [African Americans] for board participation."

Brooks stresses that the complacency in the familiar corporate mantra "we just can't find them," is not acceptable. Search firms and board committees must go beyond their traditional personal networks for recruitment and delve into nontraditional networks such as nonprofit organizations, education, and the military.

To increase the visibility of potential African American board members, the ELC is also in partnership with the National Association of Corporate Directors, and works toward registering members on the association's database--one of the primary sources companies use to seek eligible candidates in particular skill sets.

Says Brooks: "The strategy is to continue to focus on the identification of the senior African Americans in [the top 500 publicly traded] companies, to continue building an effective pipeline of young African Americans who can move to senior positions in corporate America, to ensure we minimize the likelihood of any derailments, and to begin to focus aggressively on wealth accumulation."

The Stats

Of the 260 blacks who serve on the board of a top 500 publicly traded company, 78% are men and 22% women.

In 2003, all the top 100 companies had at least one white female director; 31 top 100 firms had a least one black female director.

Early board appointments were frequently obtained as a result of experience serving on regional and national nonprofit boards

Joining ELC

Potential members are first nominated by two council members and interviewed. The group is currently recruiting senior black executives who are CEOs of top 500 publicly traded companies or direct reports to the CEO of a top 500 publicly traded company. For more visit: www.elcinfo.com.

Criteria for Recruitment

Directors interviewed for the study agreed that there are four important factors for selection. Lacking any one could disqualify a candidate from board service consideration.

1 Expertise in a needed functional area or knowledge of a particular industry

2 A reputation as a skilled team player

3 Financial capabilities

4 A track record of demonstrated leadership qualities