August 19, 2023 • 10 mins
Women and BIPOC representation in business boardrooms is better than it's ever been, but there is still quite a lot of work to do. That's the story in a new report from Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity called "Missing Pieces". It takes a closer look at diversity at Fortune 500 companies, specifically in their leadership, on both a state and national level. Nichole speaks with Jess Ackerman, an Audit Readiness Leader at Deloitte, about the survey and its findings.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend, where each
and every week we come together talkabout all the topics important to you and
the place where you live. Greatto be back with you again this week.
I'm Nicole Davis. These days,more often than ever, you're going
to find women and people of colortaking more seats in boardrooms. Being said,
though, there's still a long wayto go when it comes to true
(00:29):
representation. That is the story that'sbeing told this week by a new report
out from Deloitte called the Missing PiecesSurvey. And they did this survey with
the Alliance for Board Diversity, agroup which takes a closer look at Fortune
five hundred companies and how diverse theirleadership has become over the years on both
a state and national level. Thisreport certainly piqued my curiosity when I heard
(00:50):
about it. I reached out tosee if we could learn a bit more
about what they found when it comesto Massachusetts. And that's where we're at
now. Jessica Ackerman joining us onthe show to break this down. She
is an audit readiness leader over atDeloitte. Jess, thank you so much
for your time. Let's start withan overall report about what you've found?
What is the situation when it comesto representation in boardrooms? Sure, So
(01:12):
what this report is all about isit's really a report that we do in
collaboration, as you mentioned, withthe Alliance for Board Diversity, that looks
at the representation of both underrepresented racialand ethnic groups across boards across the nation,
as well as board diversity related togender. And it's a report that
(01:34):
is a multi year report, that'sa diversity sentences that's organized with the Alliance
for Board Diversity and collaboration with Deloitte. Al Right, so what did you
find in this latest report? Wecan break down some of the more specific
data points here in a few minutes, but overall, what have you noticed
in the past few years when itcomes to women in the boardroom. Yeah,
(01:55):
So overall, when we look atthis report and we look at it
nationally for women in the boardroom,women in the boardroom right now make up
about thirty percent of the Fortune fivehundred board seats nationally, which is an
increase from twenty six point five percentin twenty twenty and fifteen point five fifteen
point seven percent in twenty ten.So there is progress being made as far
(02:19):
as representation on board seats across thecountry with Fortune five hundred boards. However,
one of the key things that Inoted within the report was that,
based on the current rate of progress, it will take until twenty sixty or
Fortune five hundred boards to reach genderrepresentation and ethnic representation parity with the broader
US population. So yeah, wow. And then on the state level,
(02:45):
what are we looking what are welooking at in that regard? Yeah,
when we're thinking about gender diversity,in the state of Massachusetts, women held
thirty one percent of the Fortune fivehundred board seats, and so that's really
online and in parity with the nationalaverage of thirty percent Fortune five hundred boards
seeds. All right, so weare definitely noticing that we're essentially on trend
(03:05):
nationally. What do you find Whatare some factors that have been holding women
back from ascending to stronger roles inthe boardroom? Obviously there has been progress
made in not just gender but alsoracial diversity and also other factors, but
really, what are the big factorsholding women back right now? Yeah?
And I think we often think aboutit as you know, what is maybe
(03:28):
folding women back? I'd like tomaybe spin that and say, what can
we do to encourage more diversity onboard versus what is holding back? And
I think really part of this isacknowledging that there's a problem, that it's
really important to measure statistics such asin the Missing Pieces report for the Boston
Club's annual census that they complete relatedto board diversity, and to then measure
(03:53):
on a periodic basis the progress thatis being made and to really highlight where
there maybe a lack of progress orareas that we need to pay more attention
to, and then to create opportunitiesto help impact that change. How willing
do you find Fortune five hundred companiesto be in actually following through with this,
(04:15):
because there of course has been talkabout, you know, certain companies
potentially just making the moves just tolook better on the outside. But how
genuine do you feel that Fortune fivehundred companies are when it comes to this
venture of making women more of apresence in the boardroom. While I can't
hypothesize for any specific company or youknow, the thought process that goes on
(04:36):
at the Fortune five hundred companies asa fool, we can see that there
is progress being made an anecdotally,what I hear from the women who are
part of our Deloitte Board Ready Womenprogram here in New England is that once
they have their first board seat,getting a second or a third board seat
(04:57):
really comes almost naturally. That oncethey've into that network of public company boards,
it's much easier than to get asecond or a third board seat,
which would suggest that it's it's notas if the women are not qualified,
but simply that some of the boardsneed to cast a wider net as they're
looking for new board members to identifyboth people who are diverse in terms of
(05:21):
gender and in terms of racial andethnic background, as well as diverse in
terms of role and thought as theyare looking to fill a vacant board seats.
Here in Massachusetts, black and brownboard members only called eight point five
percent of the state's fortune five hundredboard seats. This is lower than the
(05:42):
overall national average when it comes tothat, correct it is the overall national
average for fourteen five hundred representation forAfrican American and Black board members it's eleven
point nine percent. Somem ssuches doeslag there in terms of representation, and
we see that too with Latino boardmembers and Asian Pacific islander. So overall,
it is a trend that you know, not even just bringing gender into
(06:04):
it, but non white people beingor having a presence in the boardroom.
There's still a lot of work todo here as well. There is there's
still a lot of work to dohere. And as they said, I
do think acknowledging there's a problem andstarting to measure the data and get this
data out publicly should help everyone reflectthat there is a problem and then come
(06:25):
up with ways to help to tryto solve for that problem. Now,
when it comes to COVID nineteen,we did a lot of stories about women
being essentially forced out of the workplacefor a variety of reasons. Do you
feel like that potentially had an impacton your report or what you're seeing in
your report. There was nothing thatwe found as far as research within the
(06:45):
report that would suggest, you know, that there was any direct causal effect
from COVID nineteen, right, althoughthere is broad media reports and coverage as
to women leaving the workforce as aresult, but no direct data that we
had a lable in the report topoint back to that as a causal factor.
One thing to highlight is just thepiece of progress, right that if
(07:06):
we look at the piece of progressthat's being made, really to get to
twenty sixty before there's parody on Fortunefive hundred boards with the overall US Sensus
population, it sounds like an amazinglylong time, right, and that there
really should be a bit of acall to action here from our public company,
Fortune five hundred Boards to try toidentify ways to cast that wider net
(07:30):
and to identify people from diverse backgroundsto bring into the boardroom. The data
that we have suggests that it's nota problem related to the skill set or
the competency of the people that areout there, but simply the lack of
network or relationships that they have tobring them into those board roles. Have
you heard from any company so far? I mean, this report hasn't been
(07:53):
out too long at this point,but what is the response you're getting to
this latest report from companies and otherwise? Yeah, so I haven't had personally
any response from Fortune five hundred companies, but we are seeing a lot of
interest in our Deloitte board Ready Womenprograms that we in New England offering collaboration
(08:13):
with the greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. So we are seeing out there more
interest in that program and asks forways to be involved in the program,
be a member of the program,and to really come out and help make
that change in the overall marketplace.Yeah, give us a second here,
tell me quickly about this program,how you work with the Chamber of Commerce,
(08:37):
what you have to offer women whomight want to get involved. Sure.
So, Deloitte works in collaboration withthe Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to
offer our Board Ready Women program onan annual basis. And through the program,
women are women go through what arethe basics of being on a public
company board as well as are introducedto a network of sitting public company board
(09:01):
members to help them get into thatnetwork of members and maybe be offered an
interview as well as help prepare aboard bio, participate in mock interview sessions
that they feel confident and comfortable goingin for a first board interview. And
we've had about one hundred and fortywomen go through that program over the last
seven years, and of those wehave more than twenty five that now sit
(09:24):
on public company board have public companyboard walls. That is amazing that sounds
like such a good resource because there'sso many great minds here in the Boston
area. Like you were saying,it's just about access, and that can
be really tough sometimes. Agree,it can be really tough to access that
first position and to break into thatnetwork. Yeah for sure. All right,
how can people find out more aboutthe board Ready program and your report?
(09:48):
People can access the Missing Pieces report. It is available publicly, the
Deloitte board Ready program again, youcan find on the Deloitte dot com website.
All Right, fantastic, Jessica Ackerman, great story here, great report.
Thank you so much for all thisinformation. I appreciate it. No,
thank you, Nicole, thank youfor interviewing me, and thank you
(10:09):
for being an ally and bringing thisinformation out there for life. I have
a safe and healthy weekend. Pleasejoin me again next week for another edition
of the show. I'm Nicole Davisfrom w BZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend, where each
and every week we come together talkabout all the topics important to you and
the place where you live. Greatto be back with you again this week.
I'm Nicole Davis. These days,more often than ever, you're going
to find women and people of colortaking more seats in boardrooms. Being said,
though, there's still a long wayto go when it comes to true
(00:29):
representation. That is the story that'sbeing told this week by a new report
out from Deloitte called the Missing PiecesSurvey. And they did this survey with
the Alliance for Board Diversity, agroup which takes a closer look at Fortune
five hundred companies and how diverse theirleadership has become over the years on both
a state and national level. Thisreport certainly piqued my curiosity when I heard
(00:50):
about it. I reached out tosee if we could learn a bit more
about what they found when it comesto Massachusetts. And that's where we're at
now. Jessica Ackerman joining us onthe show to break this down. She
is an audit readiness leader over atDeloitte. Jess, thank you so much
for your time. Let's start withan overall report about what you've found?
What is the situation when it comesto representation in boardrooms? Sure, So
(01:12):
what this report is all about isit's really a report that we do in
collaboration, as you mentioned, withthe Alliance for Board Diversity, that looks
at the representation of both underrepresented racialand ethnic groups across boards across the nation,
as well as board diversity related togender. And it's a report that
(01:34):
is a multi year report, that'sa diversity sentences that's organized with the Alliance
for Board Diversity and collaboration with Deloitte. Al Right, so what did you
find in this latest report? Wecan break down some of the more specific
data points here in a few minutes, but overall, what have you noticed
in the past few years when itcomes to women in the boardroom. Yeah,
(01:55):
So overall, when we look atthis report and we look at it
nationally for women in the boardroom,women in the boardroom right now make up
about thirty percent of the Fortune fivehundred board seats nationally, which is an
increase from twenty six point five percentin twenty twenty and fifteen point five fifteen
point seven percent in twenty ten.So there is progress being made as far
(02:19):
as representation on board seats across thecountry with Fortune five hundred boards. However,
one of the key things that Inoted within the report was that,
based on the current rate of progress, it will take until twenty sixty or
Fortune five hundred boards to reach genderrepresentation and ethnic representation parity with the broader
US population. So yeah, wow. And then on the state level,
(02:45):
what are we looking what are welooking at in that regard? Yeah,
when we're thinking about gender diversity,in the state of Massachusetts, women held
thirty one percent of the Fortune fivehundred board seats, and so that's really
online and in parity with the nationalaverage of thirty percent Fortune five hundred boards
seeds. All right, so weare definitely noticing that we're essentially on trend
(03:05):
nationally. What do you find Whatare some factors that have been holding women
back from ascending to stronger roles inthe boardroom? Obviously there has been progress
made in not just gender but alsoracial diversity and also other factors, but
really, what are the big factorsholding women back right now? Yeah?
And I think we often think aboutit as you know, what is maybe
(03:28):
folding women back? I'd like tomaybe spin that and say, what can
we do to encourage more diversity onboard versus what is holding back? And
I think really part of this isacknowledging that there's a problem, that it's
really important to measure statistics such asin the Missing Pieces report for the Boston
Club's annual census that they complete relatedto board diversity, and to then measure
(03:53):
on a periodic basis the progress thatis being made and to really highlight where
there maybe a lack of progress orareas that we need to pay more attention
to, and then to create opportunitiesto help impact that change. How willing
do you find Fortune five hundred companiesto be in actually following through with this,
(04:15):
because there of course has been talkabout, you know, certain companies
potentially just making the moves just tolook better on the outside. But how
genuine do you feel that Fortune fivehundred companies are when it comes to this
venture of making women more of apresence in the boardroom. While I can't
hypothesize for any specific company or youknow, the thought process that goes on
(04:36):
at the Fortune five hundred companies asa fool, we can see that there
is progress being made an anecdotally,what I hear from the women who are
part of our Deloitte Board Ready Womenprogram here in New England is that once
they have their first board seat,getting a second or a third board seat
(04:57):
really comes almost naturally. That oncethey've into that network of public company boards,
it's much easier than to get asecond or a third board seat,
which would suggest that it's it's notas if the women are not qualified,
but simply that some of the boardsneed to cast a wider net as they're
looking for new board members to identifyboth people who are diverse in terms of
(05:21):
gender and in terms of racial andethnic background, as well as diverse in
terms of role and thought as theyare looking to fill a vacant board seats.
Here in Massachusetts, black and brownboard members only called eight point five
percent of the state's fortune five hundredboard seats. This is lower than the
(05:42):
overall national average when it comes tothat, correct it is the overall national
average for fourteen five hundred representation forAfrican American and Black board members it's eleven
point nine percent. Somem ssuches doeslag there in terms of representation, and
we see that too with Latino boardmembers and Asian Pacific islander. So overall,
it is a trend that you know, not even just bringing gender into
(06:04):
it, but non white people beingor having a presence in the boardroom.
There's still a lot of work todo here as well. There is there's
still a lot of work to dohere. And as they said, I
do think acknowledging there's a problem andstarting to measure the data and get this
data out publicly should help everyone reflectthat there is a problem and then come
(06:25):
up with ways to help to tryto solve for that problem. Now,
when it comes to COVID nineteen,we did a lot of stories about women
being essentially forced out of the workplacefor a variety of reasons. Do you
feel like that potentially had an impacton your report or what you're seeing in
your report. There was nothing thatwe found as far as research within the
(06:45):
report that would suggest, you know, that there was any direct causal effect
from COVID nineteen, right, althoughthere is broad media reports and coverage as
to women leaving the workforce as aresult, but no direct data that we
had a lable in the report topoint back to that as a causal factor.
One thing to highlight is just thepiece of progress, right that if
(07:06):
we look at the piece of progressthat's being made, really to get to
twenty sixty before there's parody on Fortunefive hundred boards with the overall US Sensus
population, it sounds like an amazinglylong time, right, and that there
really should be a bit of acall to action here from our public company,
Fortune five hundred Boards to try toidentify ways to cast that wider net
(07:30):
and to identify people from diverse backgroundsto bring into the boardroom. The data
that we have suggests that it's nota problem related to the skill set or
the competency of the people that areout there, but simply the lack of
network or relationships that they have tobring them into those board roles. Have
you heard from any company so far? I mean, this report hasn't been
(07:53):
out too long at this point,but what is the response you're getting to
this latest report from companies and otherwise? Yeah, so I haven't had personally
any response from Fortune five hundred companies, but we are seeing a lot of
interest in our Deloitte board Ready Womenprograms that we in New England offering collaboration
(08:13):
with the greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. So we are seeing out there more
interest in that program and asks forways to be involved in the program,
be a member of the program,and to really come out and help make
that change in the overall marketplace.Yeah, give us a second here,
tell me quickly about this program,how you work with the Chamber of Commerce,
(08:37):
what you have to offer women whomight want to get involved. Sure.
So, Deloitte works in collaboration withthe Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to
offer our Board Ready Women program onan annual basis. And through the program,
women are women go through what arethe basics of being on a public
company board as well as are introducedto a network of sitting public company board
(09:01):
members to help them get into thatnetwork of members and maybe be offered an
interview as well as help prepare aboard bio, participate in mock interview sessions
that they feel confident and comfortable goingin for a first board interview. And
we've had about one hundred and fortywomen go through that program over the last
seven years, and of those wehave more than twenty five that now sit
(09:24):
on public company board have public companyboard walls. That is amazing that sounds
like such a good resource because there'sso many great minds here in the Boston
area. Like you were saying,it's just about access, and that can
be really tough sometimes. Agree,it can be really tough to access that
first position and to break into thatnetwork. Yeah for sure. All right,
how can people find out more aboutthe board Ready program and your report?
(09:48):
People can access the Missing Pieces report. It is available publicly, the
Deloitte board Ready program again, youcan find on the Deloitte dot com website.
All Right, fantastic, Jessica Ackerman, great story here, great report.
Thank you so much for all thisinformation. I appreciate it. No,
thank you, Nicole, thank youfor interviewing me, and thank you
(10:09):
for being an ally and bringing thisinformation out there for life. I have
a safe and healthy weekend. Pleasejoin me again next week for another edition
of the show. I'm Nicole Davisfrom w BZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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