Actions for Diversifying Corporate Boardrooms (VIDEO)

There are specific actions companies can take now to diversify their boards. Sharing those actions was the focus of an Advancing Diversity Week conversation titled "Diverse Board Recruitment Solutions -- Paying It Forward" with Constance Cannon Frazier, Principal of Cardinal Change Consulting; Mike Kelly, Founder and CEO of Kelly/Newman Advisors, and WomenAdvancing.Org editor Kate Byrne. Sharing new diversity research and actionable insights, Frazier and Kelly presented tactics boardrooms can use to broaden their pool of candidates. Expanding the aperture to "non-typical" board directors starts with inviting people with functional expertise, Kelly explained. "We specifically stated which areas at the company need help, such as human resources, marketing and sales; and rather than shoot for a former CEO or a president, or a current board director at a big company, we shoot for somebody extremely prominent in that functional area. That opens up a pool of candidates who tend to be more diverse in their backgrounds." (You can watch the entire conversation in the video above.)