* Speaker Welch…

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Corporate Board Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation Report for 2020 marks the first summary of gender, racial, and ethnic makeup across companies based in Illinois. With the availability of this data, equity and diversity goals are one step closer to being realized. As a strong advocate for the creation of this report, Speaker Chris Welch offers his following statement:

“This report marks a pivotal moment for Illinois and the business community to realize our shared goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2019, I sponsored this bill because I knew we could not effectively address racial, ethnic, and gender inequities without a clear picture of the existing environment. Today, we have the findings for 2020 that show we need to collectively do better. As the report stated, women are still underrepresented in leadership roles with only 67 percent of companies having two or more women serving as directors. Additionally, only 35 percent of companies have two or more non-white directors. We need to continue to push high standards for a diverse workforce and hold companies accountable that are not taking these goals seriously. This report illustrates where we need to focus our attention and empower our underrepresented communities. As Speaker, I am looking forward to using these findings to guide our next legislative steps to fulfill our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Background
In 2019, Speaker Chris Welch sponsored Illinois House Bill 3394 that required companies and corporations based in Illinois to report the racial and gender makeup of their board to the Secretary of State’s office. Additionally, this bill required the University of Illinois systems to analyze the data and issue a report with their findings.

* From the report…

Illinois corporate boards average about two female directors per board and female directors comprise nearly 21 percent of the average board’s total membership.4 These figures are generally aligned with broader gender equity and inclusion goals, which advocate that firms should have at least two women on the board and should aim to have at least 20% female representation. Consistent with this, 67 percent of Illinois corporations have two or more female directors. […]

Among Illinois corporations that provided information about the white/non- white status of each director, 19 reported having zero non-white directors. Another 24 firms reported having one non-white director. 10 firms reported having 2 non-white directors each, while 13 firms reported having 3 or more […]

For the average firm, non-white directors comprise about 15 percent of the board membership. By comparison, non- white (including Hispanic) individuals comprise nearly 40 percent of the population of Illinois. Appendix B presents data on non-white representation for all firms with available information. Appendix B also includes a measure of proportional representation, which accounts for non-white groups’ representation among workers in each firm’s primary industry sector.

Taking a closer look at specific race and ethnic groups reveals more subtle features of racial and ethnic underrepresentation among Illinois corporate directors. Black and African-American individuals are particularly underrepresented among corporate directors in Illinois. Among firms that provided information about the racial and ethnic composition of their board, 33 firms (52 percent of the sample) reported having zero Black or African-American board members. Another 26 firms (41 percent) reported having one Black director (Figure 3). For the average board, Black directors comprise about 6 percent of the total board membership. By comparison, Black residents comprise 13.8 percent of the total population of Illinois.