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In Breaking Good, we often highlight the importance of diversity across the corporate ecosystem, and especially in the board room. Diversity is crucial as board members impact an organization's talent strategies, culture, priorities and bottom-line. Additionally, data has shown that companies with diverse leadership outperform their peers. This is a key pillar of stakeholder capitalism and an essential way for a company’s purpose and profit to align.
Similar importance applies to what is essentially the board of our country — the President's Cabinet. President Biden must be an avid Breaking Good reader as he has nominated the most diverse presidential Cabinet in US history. He appointed more women than any other President and one analysis found that 50% of nominees for Cabinet positions and Cabinet-level positions are people of color. This is a notable difference from the previous administration, which was staffed by a paltry 16% people of color.
The Biden Administration's staffing of diverse, experienced public servants dispels the pipeline problem myth. Instead, we see the results of hiring specifically to create a "board" that much more closely resembles the American people and brings a diverse range of life experiences to national decision-making.
Wishing well to all those joining the Administration and continuing public servants as we all work to solve our country’s most pressing problems.
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| "There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it." |
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- Amanda Gorman
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| Wall Street, Get Ready |
| This Politico profile of the incoming Biden Administration shows that many have experience with ESG and sustainability policy. It will be interesting to watch as they start making an impact across the US policy agenda. |
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| INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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| SBA Steps Up Efforts to Help Women Entrepreneurs |
| Last week the Small Business Association launched Ascent, a free e-learning platform targeting women as they consider starting and running a business. The platform provides help with a variety of common concerns and also features inspirational stories. |
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| Can a 'Guaranteed Income' for Black Entrepreneurs Narrow the Wealth Gap? |
| Last year, Runway, a Black wealth-building-focused investment firm, began gifting its entrepreneurs a monthly $1,000 stipend, no strings attached. The funding has been critical, especially since many Black businesses were left out of the federal pandemic relief funding from earlier this year. |
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| What Americans Expect From Corporate America in the Wake of the Capitol Riot |
| Just Capital polled 1,000+ Americans to gauge their thoughts on corporate America's response to the Capitol riot and found 54% of Americans agreed that they "trust CEOs more than politicians when it comes to taking action to protect and uphold democracy." This trust division will be a fundamental topic for the new Administration to consider in messaging and advancing their policy agenda. |
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| Many US Corporate Boards Don't Fully Understand the Climate Crisis |
| New York University's Stern Center for Sustainable Business found that of the 1,188 board directors at 100 of the biggest US companies, just 6% had "relevant credentials" in environmental protection and only 0.3% had expertise in either climate- or water-related issues as recently as 2018. |
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