Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) Corporate Solutions, a compensation, governance, and sustainability SaaS and advisory services provider, has found that 20% of corporate board seats are now held by directors from minority backgrounds in a “historic first”. Analysis of the US’ 3,000 largest companies showed one fifth of board directorships were comprised of racial and ethnic minorities. In these analysed minority groups, directorships filled by black individuals increased by 93%, with 8.3% of all board seats now held by black directors. The Energy and Real Estate sectors saw the largest increases in the proportion of black directors during the period covered, growing by 192% and 153% respectively. The utilities sector remains top in black representation at 12%. Marija Kramer, Head of ISS Corporate Solutions, said: “Though their proportional numbers remain behind those of the U.S. population as a whole, these figures nevertheless represent a watershed moment for minority corporate directors broadly and Black directors in particular.”
