Shareholders are pushing companies to make good on diversity promises

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The year 2021 is shaping up to set records for diversity proposals at U.S. company annual meetings.

For entrepreneurs of color and women of all races, venture funding remains a nearly impenetrable barrier to success. New players are trying to change that.

Institutional Shareholder Services has already recommended a vote against key directors at boards without female directors — one of many initiatives that helped improve the number of women on boards, said Marc Goldstein, head of U.S. research at ISS Governance. He said Institutional Shareholder Services estimates there are about 894 boards on the Russell 3000 and 28 among the S&P 500 that still lack a diverse member.

An early sign of shifting sentiment came last year. A diversity report proposal at network security company Fortinet Inc. received 70% approval June 19, auspicious because it’s the holiday known as Juneteenth, which marks the anniversary of a Union general’s order in 1865 that freed slaves in Texas.IBM publicly reported diversity data in the first half of 2020 and in October told employees that it will report the information annually, the company said in a statement.

Racial audits emerged as a new shareholder proposal. They are an independent analysis into a company’s business model to see if, and how, it causes or perpetuates racial discrimination. Although they didn’t pass, those filed at companies including Johnson & Johnson and JPMorgan Chase & Co. got more than a third of votes. That’s high enough that companies are likely to face increased pressure to agree to future reviews. A racial audit proposal filed with BlackRock Inc.

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