Target Joins List of 140 S&P 500 Boards With Majority Women and Minorities

Target has been working to improve diversity for more 16 years, said Monica Lozano, chief executive officer of the College Futures Foundation, who is the lead director of the Target board and also serves on the boards of Apple Inc. and Bank of America Corp.

With the addition of Puma, Target's 13-member board now has five women, including three who are Latinx, and two Black men. The remaining six members are White men.

The changing demographics of the country and a strategic shift toward addressing the needs of stakeholders as opposed to only shareholders mean it's increasingly important for boards to have the right expertise, Lozano said.

"Those are conversations we weren't having five years ago, but we understand today that that an investment in our human capital is at its essence perhaps one of the most important investments that we can make as a company," she said.

As more under-represented members join boards, that also widens the pool of future candidates because greater diversity brings a new set of contacts often not otherwise known to White, male directors, said Janice Ellig, CEO of the Ellig Group, which recruits diverse board slates.

"The White man went to his golf club and that's who was on the board," she said. "Now that's changing. You're fishing in new pools."

That dynamic was clearly at play on the board of skateboarding-apparel company Zumiez Inc., said Lili Gil Valletta, who worked as a marketing executive at Johnson & Johnson before starting her own cultural intelligence consultancy that helps companies adapt to the changing demographics.

Gil Valletta said she joined Zumiez's board in 2019 as its first person of color. When the company's board began the search for a new director, she said she helped ensure that Carmen Bauza, a former executive at Fanatics Inc., Home Shopping Network and Walmart Inc., was among the candidates being considered. Bauza was appointed to the board in May, she said.

"What I'm feeling, that I had never felt before in my entire professional life, is this intentional referral networking and amplification of each other, of the few of us that are on the boards," said Gil Valletta, who's also a member of the Latinx Corporate Directors Association. "We are now getting together, talking to each other, having dinners at our homes."

That still doesn't mean progress is inevitable or necessarily speedy, Gil Valletta said. It's likely some of the same struggles for equity will still be happening in 2040, she said.

"I am a realist of how slow the world of business, and changing structures in business, work." Gil Valletta said. "I still think it will be a slow-moving boat."

Women held seven more seats on the boards of companies in the S&P 500 in August than they did in July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The average number of female directors was unchanged at 3.5, out of an average board size of 11.

• The percentage of female directorships was unchanged at 31.9%

  • That is above the 14.3% for companies in Japan's Nikkei 225 and 16.5% for companies in Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and below the 35% of women on boards of companies in Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and 38.7% for Europe's Stoxx 600.

• Nine S&P 500 companies increased the number of women on their boards, including Target, Cisco Systems Inc. and Dominion Energy Inc.

• Two companies reduced the number of female directors: Procter & Gamble Co. and Yum! Brands Inc.

• Organon & Co. has the highest percentage of women on its board.

• Charter Communications Inc. has the lowest percentage of women on its board.

• The consumer discretionary sector led the net gain in female board members, with one woman added each to the boards of GM, Dollar General Corp. and EBay Inc.

• Dominion Energy surpassed 30% female board membership for the first time since at least January 2019. The number of S&P 500 companies above this key threshold rose to 302 in August from 301 the previous month.

• The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index fell 3.9% in August, compared with the 4.1% drop of the MSCI World Index.

S&P 500 companies with the highest and lowest percentage of female board members:

The analysis is based on data that covers 499 companies in the S&P 500. Historical analysis may be impacted by changes to the index membership, while monthly board changes may be considered effective at month's end.

The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index is a modified capitalization-weighted index that tracks the financial performance of those companies committed to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation and transparency.

To see the percentage of women on a company board, click {FA ESGG <go>}.</go>

To see more on Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, click {GEI <go>}.</go>

To see the percentage of female directors for each of the S&P 500 companies: {SPX Index GX <go>}. In search box on top right, choose "% Women on Board." Mouse over to get each company's results.</go>

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