Expanding the Latino voice in the boardroom

Latinos make up only 3% of board seats while comprising 18.5% of the U.S. population, according to Latino Representation on Fortune 1000 Boards, 2020 edition.

“The Latino community contributes $2.6 trillion – a quarter of U.S. GDP. Despite their economic might, Latino representation on corporate boards is staggeringly low and there has been no progress in the last decade by any measure,” said Jose R. Rodriguez, KPMG Audit partner and Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) board member.

“Diversity of people, background and skills have been shown to improve decision-making,” said Susan Angele, a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation and a senior advisor to the KPMG Board Leadership Center. “Our report found that nearly three-quarters of Fortune 1000 corporate boards do not benefit from a Latino perspective.”

The annual report by LCDA and KPMG measures Latino representation on boards by industry, and by the states in which companies are headquartered. It also researched the gender, age, board and committee service of Latino directors.

Findings by Industry:

• Latinos are best represented on company boards in the food, beverage and tobacco industries, yet the total number of board seats held amounts to only 5%.
• 85% of companies in the technology industry do not have a Latino on their boards

Findings by State:

• In both California and Texas, 39% of residents are Latino, yet only 3% of Fortune 1000 board seats of companies based in those states are held by Latinos.
• The state with the highest prevalence of Latino directors is Florida, where 25% of residents are Latino, yet only 5% of Florida-based Fortune 1000 board seats are held by Latinos.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Susan Angele, contact Liz Lynch.