10 Black Board Directors You’ll Want to Meet
Forward-thinking boards have made it a priority to create a more diverse mix of directors.
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Forward-thinking boards have made it a priority to create a more diverse mix of directors in order to fairly represent the US consumer base. And while we’ve seen women make recent progress, other minorities still have a long road ahead of them to achieve equal representation in the boardroom.
The breakdown of all of the Fortune 500 board seats currently hovers around: 66% Caucasian/white men, 18% Caucasian/white women, 9% African American, 4% Asian, and 4% by Hispanic/Latino (2018). So while African Americans make up close to 14% of the total US population, they are still largely underrepresented when it comes to having a seat in boardrooms where policy, talent recruitment, compensation, and far-reaching financial decisions are made.
In partnership with, The Board Challenge, a movement to improve the representation of Black directors in the boardrooms of U.S. public and private companies, we’ve created a list of 10 exceptional Black Directors. Each director has an established and successful track record of global business and board experience, proving that our shared goal of fair, equal, and diverse representation in the board room is not a pipeline problem.
We’ve curated a list of 10 Black Board Directors You’ll Want to Meet
Click on the candidate below to learn more about their background and get connected.
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Aishetu led an over 20-year career in finance, working as an investment banker and finance executive for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers all throughout the US, UK, Central, and South America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Aishetu has worked on over $130 billion in M&A, private equity financings, IPOs, and public capital market transactions. With her main focus always on strategically changing the manner in which clients are serviced, Aishetu decided in 2019 it was time to dive into her deepest passion - the advancement of women in business. And now, Aishetu has redefined the way beauty companies address professional women as the Founder and CEO of Bossy Cosmetics, Inc. She has been featured in Refinery 29, Essence Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, BET Networks, Fashionista Magazine, W Magazine, and InStyle Magazine. On top of being a CEO, Aishetu is also a 3x board director well as a member of the Female Founder Collective and she sits on the Advisory Council for Fair Trade USA. She also founded a children's play and activity center called Paloo's Place and a media project which showcased successful African women called African HERstory.
With over 15 years of experience in multimedia and entertainment, Christine’s knowledge of the arts and culture industry is unmatched. She launched her career with The Walt Disney Company which led to various executive roles at Magic Johnson Enterprises, NBC Universal, the 3-time WNBA Champions The Los Angeles Sparks, and now oversees operations at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Christine was named to Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 list in 2018 in company with other powerful Black leaders including Venus Williams, Stacey Abrams, and the Obamas. Christine is a mentor for the Black Girls Dream organization and currently serves on several boards and advisory councils, including the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Board.
For over 30 years, Donald’s visionary and inclusive leadership has contributed to the long term success of the businesses he has supported, including over 20 years in global roles at both Walmart and Sam’s Club. Donald directed Walmart’s first integration in Africa 13 sub-Saharan African nations. During this time, he leveraged Walmart’s size and scale to reduce purchasing costs by 12% and optimized joint-business planning to negotiate more favorable contracts with shared suppliers. Today, Donald is the Executive Vice President Supply Chain for Lowe’s Companies, Inc. where has revolutionized the business through cost containment orchestrating a $20M annualized expense reduction through business restructuring.
With more than 20 years of experience in highly regulated industries, LaSalle has developed deep expertise in operations, risk & compliance, contact centers, & scaling transformation for high growth organizations. LaSalle is a former US Naval Officer, published thought leader, & public speaker with a track record of leading large global operations & compliance teams for Fortune 500 & fast-growing startups. Now in charge of Global Product Compliance & Quality Assurance for Robinhood, LaSalle leads teams throughout the world on securities, crypto, business risk mitigation and International entities. Prior to joining Robinhood, LaSalle was the Executive & Marketing Compliance Officer for United Services Automobile Association (USAA) - a Fortune 100, diversified financial services firm that provides insurance, banking, investments, and advice to over 13 million active duty and retired military members and their families.
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The Board Challenge is a movement to increase representation and accelerate progress for Black board directors at public and private U.S. companies. Organizations take the pledge to add at least one Black director to their board within 12 months and can leverage resources from theBoardlist, a co-founder of the initiative, which provides a free, custom slate of top candidates for each partner company. Since The Board Challenge launched last September, 16 of the 24 companies that took the pledge have already followed through and appointed new Black directors. This is meaningful momentum that helps prove that the lack of diversity in corporate boardrooms is not a talent pipeline problem, it’s merely a perception challenge.
Lockie is the Founder and CEO of Catalyst Consulting, a boutique advisory firm launched in 2007 that specializes in innovation, analytics, and digital technologies. Recently, Lockie was the receipt of The Lead 2020 Digital Icon Award for implementing an innovative technology stack. Prior to Catalyst, Lockie’s career included over 20 years of executive management experience including Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer at UNTUCKit; CMO of Nora Gardner, COO of Tadashi, Head of New Business at Liz Claiborne (Kate Spade), Senior Director at Alvarez and Marsal’s Retail Consulting Practice and Investment Banker at Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette. Lockie is also a veteran keynote speaker who has presented in front of crowds of up to 2,000 people, as well as a seasoned moderator, panelist, and contributing writer. She currently serves on the board for the National Academy of Design and is also the fashion sector co-lead of the HBS Alumni Angels of NYC and co-VP of Programming at the HBS Club of New York.
With more than 30 years of corporate, financial, and organizational leadership, Ralph now leads ShotSpotter, a company dedicated to helping law enforcement agencies provide equal protection for at-risk, underserved neighborhoods, reducing gun violence, and restoring police as trusted guardians of the community. Just 7 years after taking the regions at ShotSpotter, Ralph led its transformation to a SaaS-based business model ultimately taking the company public in 2017. Previously, Ralph was the CEO of GuardianEdge Technologies Inc. where he drove its acquisition by Symantec, as well as held executive roles at IBM, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. Ralph received the 2019 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award for Northern California and currently serves on the board for TriNet Group.
While in a dual role serving as both COO and CFO at Indiesource, Shannon was named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business in 2019 by the San Francisco Business Times. Shannon is both an attorney and CPA, currently serving as Chief Financial Officer for Reputation.com, a company that helps large multi-location businesses monitor and improve their reputation and customer experience. Shannon has also held executive positions at Cumulus Media and Aspire Public Schools, beginning her career with KPMG, K&L Gates LLP, Cooley LLP, and Amgen. Shannon is the chairperson of the National Society of Black CPAs, a fellow at the American Leadership Forum, and a member of Hipower, a group of women corporate leaders focused on accelerating women's leadership roles from professional success to wide-ranging significance.
Recently named the #1 woman Silicon Valley tech companies should have on their boards by Business Insider, Tara-Nicholle is a published author and Founder and CEO of SoulTour. She has made a highly successful career creating a one-of-a-kind personal growth school that helps entrepreneurs and companies through uplifting transformation programs, curriculums, and coaching. Previously, Tara-Nicholle was an Entrepreneur In Residence at Lightspeed Venture Partners, the chief marketer for MyFitnessPal and Under Armour Connected Fitness, and President of the Board of Directors for City Slicker Films. Tara-Nicholle now serves on the board for California State University Bakersfield Foundation.
Tony is the Chief Equality & Recruiting Officer of Salesforce, working to build a workplace that reflects the diverse communities Salesforce serves and further Equality for All. His team also leads the Salesforce Ethical & Humane Use of Technology initiative striving to ensure technology not only drives success for customers but also helps drive positive social change. Prior to Salesforce, Tony held executive roles at Microsoft and HP and currently sits on the board for College Track and Gannett Co., Inc. Tony is passionate about his board and community service focused on ensuring low-income teens get college educations, and improving health care for children and HIV-positive women in the San Francisco Bay area.
After receiving both her JD and MBA from Harvard University, Zuhairah held management roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, Viacom, and Goldman Sachs among others before landing at Uber in 2013 as one of the first 300 employees. There she was responsible for Uber’s $1B+ P&L, growing trip volume by 1,300%, and revenue by 25x. Zuhairah also played an instrumental role in getting first-of-its-kind legislation passed to regulate and legalize ridesharing in the Mid-Atlantic region. Now at Expedia, she leads a global team of 250+ and is accountable for $4B in revenue. As a recognized thought leader, Zuhairah has been published and quoted in the Harvard Business Review, NPR, Forbes, and MSNBC. She was recognized in 2020 by Savoy Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America and in 2016 by the Washington Business Journal as one of the Top 40 Under 40 executives in the region.