Latinos occupy a meagre 3% of Fortune 1000 board seats, despite comprising 18.5% of the US population, according to research carried out by the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) and KPMG.
In both California and Texas, 39% of residents are Latino; yet only 3% of Fortune 1000 company board seats based in those states are held by Latinos, reveals the report. In Florida, where 25% of residents are Latino, only 5% hold Fortune 1000 board seats; which is actually the highest number of Latino directors in the US.
MAJORITY OF BOARDS LACK LATINO DIRECTORS
Around 73% of Fortune 1000 Companies Lack a Latino Board Member, according to the report; entitled Latino Representation on Fortune 1000 Boards, 2020 edition. Findings by industry, reveal that 85% of companies in the technology industry do not have a Latino on their boards. Latinos, however, are better represented on company boards in the food, beverage and tobacco industries; yet the total number of these board seats amounts to just 5%.
“Many boardrooms are missing out on Latino talent and inadvertently diluting earnings by not seeking LatinX directors for their boards. Latino purchasing power is growing 70% faster than non-Latino; and companies who do not capitalise on this growth are losing market share. Boardroom diversity without Latinos is incomplete and bad business,” stated Roel Campos, LCDA’s Board Chair.
GROWING IMPORTANCE OF LATINO PERSPECTIVE
“Diversity of people, background and skills have been shown to improve decision-making,” pointed out Susan Angele, Member of the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation board; and a senior advisor to the KPMG Board Leadership Center. “Our report found that nearly three-quarters of Fortune 1000 corporate boards do not have the benefit of a Latino perspective.”
The latest statistics are hard to believe considering that the Latino community “contributes $2.6 trillion – one quarter of US GDP”, according Jose R Rodriguez, KPMG Partner and LCDA Board Member. “Despite their economic might, Latino representation on corporate boards is staggeringly low; and there has been no progress in the last decade by any measure.”
The supply of qualified Latin talent is not an issue, according to LCDA’s CEO Esther Aguilera. “There is a strong and growing pool of qualified Latina and Latino candidates with expansive business experience ready to contribute in the boardroom,” confirmed Aguilera.
The LCDA is part of the solution bringing together some of the most respected and accomplished leaders in business. Last year, LCDA released the Latino Board Tracker, an online tool that tracks Latino representation on Fortune 1000 boards. It aims to raise awareness of the underrepresentation of Latinos on the boards of America’s largest companies, as reported.
At the end of last year, the LCDA challenged Corporate America to triple Latino representation on their boards by 2023. Read the article below, for more details.
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