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BoardReady Index
We created our own analytic tool to capture boardroom composition. The BoardReady Index (BRI) is a proprietary scoring analytic that incorporates five core metrics: gender, race / ethnicity, median age, age span, and director tenure.
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Gender
Gender balanced boards represent different shareholder perspectives - as 51% of the U.S. population is female.
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Race/Ethnicity
Racially diverse boards represent different shareholder perspectives - as 40% of the U.S. population is non-white.
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Median Age
This shows the presence of both younger and older directors - representing different shareholder ages.
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Age Span
This shows the presence of both younger and older directors, with a range in experience - representing different shareholder ages.
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Tenure
This shows the presence of both seasoned and new perspectives — and promotes turnover.
Using this analytic tool, we track board composition trends across various companies - allowing us to identify best practices, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
Our on-going research informs thought leadership, speaking engagements, and publications, ensuring we stay at the forefront of board governance conversations.
As seen in the Seattle Times
Great boards: What are they and why do they matter?
As businesses face increasing disruption and complexity, the role of a strong board has never been more critical. The insights shared in this Op-Ed reinforce the importance of intentional board composition and engagement - values that are central to our mission.
Phyllis Campbell, our Senior Strategist, recently shared her insights on what makes a great board in The Seattle Times. She highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in driving meaningful discussions and better decision-making:
“Having a critical mass of diverse thinkers around the table enabled a conversation with different points of view, and ensured all voices were heard and given consideration.”
Read the full article here.
Cited in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, & Forbes
Lessons From The Pandemic. 2021
In BoardReady’s first ever report, we examined the link between companies with multidimensional board diversity and company revenue. Despite the grim pandemic in 2020 that greatly altered the business landscape, we found that companies with more diverse boards outperformed their counterparts in this time of transition.
Among the highlights for S&P 500 companies in 2020:
54% of companies with more than 30% board seats held by women experienced revenue growth. For companies with less than 20% board seats held by women, only 45% of them experienced revenue growth.
Companies whose median director age was 55 or less had a 10.1% increase in revenue. Companies whose median director age was 65 or more had a 7.7% revenue drop.
When 30% of board seats were held by non-white directors, companies had a 54% increase in year-over-year revenue growth. All other cohorts saw their revenues decline.
The data is clear: diversity and high performance go hand-in-hand. Download the full report.
Quoted in Other Publications
The Big Picture Report. 2022
A report from the California Partners Project, BoardReady was thrilled to contribute to the “Big Picture” by utilizing the BoardReady Index to measure how board diversity is correlated with revenue growth.
Deanna Oppenheimer, BoardReady’s Founder and Chair, added to the report:
“It’s amazing, albeit unsurprising, to see diversity on boards consistently correlated with better financial performance. Like decades of research before, BoardReady’s findings have linked more diverse boards to better performance, specifically increased revenue and higher year-over-year growth.”
Read more about how California’s law to advance gender diversity in the boardroom has impacted publicly traded companies headquartered in California.