For more than a decade, the Black Corporate Directors Conference has pushed to create effective and activist board members while serving as an enduring power network. Founders John Rogers and Mellody Hobson, CEO and president, respectively, of BE 100s asset manager Ariel Investments, and Charles Tribbett III, a senior partner with executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates, have used their organization as a tool to design boards that create shareholder value through the highest standards of corporate governance and inclusive membership.
The trio believes their mandate will set the stage for the development of more innovative, competitive companies in the global environment. Rogers, a corporate director for McDonald’s Corp. and Exelon who uses as one of his guides a copy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” that he has kept tucked in his wallet, often asserts: “I’m going to help with the diversity initiatives of the corporate boards I’m on because it is not only the morally right thing to do, but it is also going to enhance the success of the business.â€
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In this exclusive interview with Editor-In-Chief Derek T. Dingle, Rogers and Tribbett shared the ongoing mission of the BCDC and how black board participation helps drive the advancement of global business by recruiting new brand of leadership talent to corporate America.
Black Enterprise: Share with our audience how black board representation significantly expands opportunities for all. Are we realizing the impact of black on boards?
Charles Tribbett III: When blacks go on boards, they are part of the CEO succession planning. [You have someone to fight] for candidates that can be elevated to the president role or presidents of divisions where African Americans are now running two, three, five billion-dollar P&Ls for a company. Even if they don’t get the CEO job, they get recruited to become candidates for CEO opportunities elsewhere.
The more you have on the board, the greater odds diversity occurs at the company across the board … the better opportunities we have for diversity to be given in donations for foundations or not-for-profit organizations … the better chance we have on African Americans that are in the treasurer’s job, and for these [corporations] will begin to give business to a more diverse group of financial services firms. All of that trickles down by simply having African Americans on board. There’s a tremendous effect on the corporate board, which filters all the way to the company, and ultimately affecting America and blacks.
We have seen some African American board members become a part of the consideration set and, in some cases, gain CEO slots. Do you think we are going to see more of that activity in the future?
John Rogers: Once we are there and people see us, alongside white directors, more often than not I see African American directors move into these leadership roles. People say, “Hey, these guys are pretty good here. Actually they are really the best, we are going to make them chairman of the whole company or CEO.†It shows how talented our folks are. We just need an opportunity to get in the room.
Check out more on the Black Corporate Directors Conference and other efforts to diversify boards on the next page …
What has been the BCDC’s progress regarding its initiatives to increase the number of black board members on a regional basis?
John Rogers: My understanding is that the group that meets out west has been very aggressive and forceful at pushing giant tech companies out there to have their Jackie Robinson moment, and to go to the Facebooks, the Apples, the major main names, I think is so important. The Texas group has this idea of [getting] the private equity world to open up to certain people of color and companies that they take private. This year’s conference, we will have David Rubenstein coming in from the Carlyle Group talking about how we encourage these giant institutions that are controlling so much of corporate America and pick the people to put on the board.
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Charles Tribbett: Thanks to work that BLACK ENTERPRISE has done as well as others that really help them narrow down which companies don’t have African Americans on their boards, they are now reaching out to CEOs and heads of nominating committees. They can personally call that person and talk to them about when you have a slot coming up, you should think about diversity.
So will it take more shareholder activism in the form of Jesse Jackson’s Silicon Valley campaign to further increase the numbers? Is that a role that African American investors and the investment community can play in terms of pushing for a greater board diversity and overall inclusion?
Tribbett: I believe Jesse Jackson has done historical things that have helped blacks get on corporate boards, and create diversity in companies. I think that those that follow him can clearly learn from what he’s done, and he’s done it successfully. It’s not the only way. I think that we have to look at multiple ways in which we can create diversity at companies, at the board level, and have companies give business to blacks.
Search … there’s another way. About 40%, 50% of how blacks go on board is through word of mouth. Networking is another way. I think your readers have to look at what position they’re in [relative to] their company or their job, and how can they make a difference through investment to facilitate getting more blacks on board.
Rogers: All of us have to be on message. Just imagine if the NAACP, Urban League, National Action Network, and Rainbow Push all agreed that the No. 1 issue facing our futures for this year was making sure the major corporation of the world have true diversity in their C-suite and their board level positions. [If] congressional and electoral leaders, the faith based community, and business leaders, all were on message of how important that was. Once you get people in the board suites and C-suite jobs and they have the right attitude, it will transform our communities.