Board’s Eye View: African-American Women on Fortune 500 Corporate Boards
by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
As we reported last week, there are still significant barriers to African-American women rising in Corporate America’s ranks. Women of color—like many women—suffer from a lack of strong or existing strategic networks and work/life balance demands. Additionally, they are hampered by a lack of opportunity—the Catalyst Census of Women on Boards of December 2008 showed that the number of women in general and women of color in particular remained stagnant—and by inaccurate perceptions of African-American women’s capabilities.
Of the 471 companies surveyed, nearly one-fifth had at least one African-American woman on the board. Of the 15.2 percent of directorships held by women at Fortune 500 companies, only 3.2 percent are held by women of color.
If the truth expressed in past Catalyst studies—that the more women on corporate boards, the more likely there will be women in upper management of the organization—holds true for other under-represented groups, the following extraordinary African American women who sit on corporate boards will, by their presence and accomplishments, help create a climate conducive to including other women of color in the C-suite.
Karen Hastie Williams is a partner with Crowell & Moring law firm in Washington, D.C. She currently sits on the boards of Chubb Corporation, Continental Airlines, Inc., Gannett Company, Inc., Washington Gas Holdings Company, and SunTrust Bank.
Paula A. Sneed served as group vice president and president of E-Commerce and Marketing Services, Kraft Foods, until she retired in 2006. She now sits on the boards of Airgas Inc and The Charles Schwab Corporation.
Aulana L. Peters is a retired partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm in Los Angeles. She is a director of 3M Corporation, Deere & Company, and Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from M.I.T., has served as president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since 1999. She sits on the corporate boards of IBM, FedEx Corporation, Marathon Oil Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated and NYSE Euronext.
Ann M. Fudge is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Young & Rubicam Brands. She serves on the corporate board of General Electric.
Ruth J. Simmons, Ph.D., is currently the president of Brown University. She sits on the boards of Goldman Sachs Group and Texas Instruments.
Johnetta B. Cole, Ph.D, is president emerita of Spelman College and former professor at Emory University in Atlanta. She has been a director of Merck & Co. since 1994.
Dorothy Terrell is a limited partner of First Light Capital. She sits on the boards of General Mills Inc., and Herman Miller Inc.
