And what can corporate leaders learn from them so that, perhaps, board diversity in 2031 isn’t still the topic covered by excuses? Though Ken Frazier, one of the Fortune 500’s only Black CEOs, stepped down at the end of June, he will, for the time being, retain his position as chairman of Merck’s board. The company’s board is relatively diverse, with three Black directors , including Frazier, and six women .
The company pursued a variety of strategies, including looking beyond sitting CEOs and personal networks, interviewing a wide array of candidates, and dedicating several hours a week to the search. “You really need to research this,” Victor said. “It requires a deliberate process. Sometimes you get off track but you have to keep going back to what your search criteria is and keep a disciplined approach.
“We wanted to deliberately create a diverse leadership, bringing in people with different backgrounds, education, and work experience,”Nan Weitzman, HP’s Head of Talent Acquisition. “And we asked ourselves, ‘Who do we need in order to thrive?’... It starts with the leaders believing in it and speaking about it and actually doing it. It’s part of the everyday conversation.”