By Black Enterprise
For the fifth year BLACK ENTERPRISE has developed its annual report on boardroom power, including our 2017 Registry of Corporate Directors featuring 292 African Americans making significant contributions as guardians of shareholder value for S&P 500 companies (based on market capitalization as of April 28, 2017). In fact, we expanded our universe from our analysis last year of the 300 largest companies on the S&P index to create a more complete review of board diversity.
In evaluating the corporate governance landscape this year, BE found that roughly 40% of the nation’s largest corporations across a myriad of industries – from tech giants to discount retailers – do not have a single African American corporate director.
For years, the value of black board members, including those found on our registry, has been well documented. These business leaders are charged with the fiduciary responsibility to increase shareholder value by reviewing and making decisions – everything from acquisitions and divestitures to executive compensation and supply chain management, among others – that will ultimately maximize earnings, dividends and the stock price. As such, these corporate watchdogs ensure the continued viability of global business, responsible for the oversight of trillions of assets and millions of managers, rank-and-file employees, vendors and other stakeholders. Moreover, the critical factors for 21st Century corporate competitiveness – continuous innovation, shifting demographics and gaining a significant share of black consumer and business markets – mean major companies cannot afford to operate without the inclusion of African Americans in their boardrooms.
Confirmed by a range of corporate directors, state and local treasury officials, D&I advocacy groups and shareholder activists, our annual listing has proven impactful in the diversification within corporate governance. A number of CEOs and board nominating committees of the largest publicly traded companies have reviewed our data and, in many cases, immediately took steps to diversify their boards.
For those among the S&P 500 that have yet to take such action, we, along with other advocates of boardroom diversity and inclusion, urge African American board members, pension fund officials, consumers, individual and institutional investors as well as progressive CEOs and nominating committees to use their power and act now – to paraphrase Ariel Investments CEO John Rogers, Jr. – to pressure, push, nudge and encourage these companies to make their boardrooms look like America.
Here are the 197 companies from the S&P 500 without black directors:
Activision Blizzard Inc.
Adobe Systems Inc.
Advance Auto Parts Inc.
Advanced Micro Devices
AES Corp.
Agilent Technologies Inc.
Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
Alaska Air Group Inc.
Albemarle Corp.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Allegion plc
Alliance Data Systems Corp.
Altaba Inc.*
Altria Group Inc.
Amazon.com Inc.
AMETEK Inc.
Amgen Inc.
Amphenol Corp.
Analog Devices Inc.
Andeavor Corp.**
Aon plc
Apache Corp.
Apartment Investment
Management Co. (Aimco)
Applied Materials Inc.
Autodesk Inc.
AvalonBay Communities Inc.
Baker Hughes Inc.
Berkshire Hathaway
Best Buy Co. Inc.
Biogen Inc.
Borgwarner Inc.
Boston Properties Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Broadcom Ltd.
CA Inc.
Cabot Oil & Gas
CBRE Group Inc.
Celgene Corp.
CenturyLink Inc.
Cerner Corp.
CF Industries Holdings
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.
Church & Dwight Co.
Cimarex Energy Co.
Cisco Systems Inc.
Citizens Financial Group Inc.
Citrix Systems Inc.
CME Group Inc.
ConocoPhillips
Constellation Brands Inc.
Cooper Companies Inc.
Coty Inc.
CSRA Inc.
Danaher Corp.
Delphi Automotive PLC
Devon Energy Corp.
Digital Realty Trust
Discovery Communications Inc.
DISH Network Corp.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
DXC Technology Co.
E*TRADE Financial Corp.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.
Eastman Chemical Co.
eBay Inc.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
Emerson Electric Co.
EOG Resources
Equifax Inc.
Equinix Inc.
Essex Property Trust
Expeditors International
of Washington Inc.
Extra Space Storage Inc.
Facebook Inc.
Fastenal Co.
Fiserv Inc.
FLIR Systems Inc.
FMC Corp.
Fortive Corp.
Fortune Brands Home
& Security Inc.
Franklin Resources Inc.
Gallagher Arthur J. & Co.
Gap Inc.
Garmin Ltd.
Gartner Inc.
Genuine Parts Co.
GGP Inc.
HCP Inc.
Helmerich & Payne Inc.
Hershey Foods Corp.
Hologic Inc.
Horton D.R. Inc.
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.
IDEXX Laboratories Inc.
Incyte Corp.
Ingersoll-Rand Plc
Intel Corp.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc.
Intuit Inc.
Intuitive Surgical Inc.
Invesco Ltd.
Iron Mountain Inc.
Juniper Networks Inc.
Kimco Realty Corp.
KLA-Tencor Corp.
Kohl’s Corp.
Kraft Heinz Co.
Lam Research Corp.
Leggett & Platt
Level 3 Communications
LKQ Corp.
LyondellBasell Industries N.V.
Macerich Co.
Martin Marietta Materials
Mastercard Inc.
Mead Johnson Nutrition Co.
Mettler-Toledo International
Microchip Technology Inc.
Micron Technology Inc.
Mid-America Apartment
Communities
Mohawk Industries Inc.
Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Murphy Oil Corp.
Mylan NV
Nasdaq Inc.
National Oilwell Varco Inc.
NetApp Inc.
NetFlix Inc.
Newfield Exploration Co.
News Corp.
Noble Energy Inc.
Nucor Corp.
Nvidia Corp.
Occidental Petroleum
ONEOK Inc.
Oracle Corp.
O’Reilly Automotive
PACCAR Inc.
Parker-Hannifin Corp.
Patterson Cos. Inc.
Paychex Inc.
PayPal Holdings Inc.
People’s United Financial Inc.
PerkinElmer Inc.
Perrigo Co. plc
Philip Morris International
Phillips 66
Pinnacle West Capital Corp.
Priceline Group Inc.
Public Storage
PVH Corp.
Qorvo Inc.
QUALCOMM Inc.
Quest Diagnostics
Ralph Lauren Corp.
Range Resources Corp.
Realty Income Corp.
Red Hat Inc.
Regency Centers Corp.
Ross Stores Inc.
Schlumberger Ltd.
Sealed Air Corp.
Signet Jewelers Ltd.
Simon Property Group
Skyworks Solutions Inc.
SL Green Realty Corp.
Staples Inc.
Symantec Corp.
Synopsys Inc.
TechnipFMC Ltd.
Teradata Corp.
Tiffany & Co.
TJX Cos Inc.
Tractor Supply Co.
TransDigm Group
Transocean Ltd.
TripAdvisor Inc.
UDR Inc.
United Continental Holding Inc.
Universal Health Services
Varian Medical Systems Inc.
VeriSign Inc.
Verisk Analytics Inc.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Vornado Realty Trust
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
Waters Corp.
Western Union Co.
Weyerhaeuser Co.
Williams Cos. Inc.
Willis Towers Watson PLC
Wynn Resorts Ltd.
Xilinx Inc.
XL Group Ltd.
Zions Bancorp.
*Formerly Yahoo Inc. **Formerly Tesoro Corp.
Read more at http://www.blackenterprise.com/business/companies-without-black-directors/