Greater Cleveland is trending higher for boardroom diversity than nation

We often talk about inclusive opportunities within Greater Cleveland. And from a national and regional level, when we previously talked about inclusive opportunities that seldom included directorships on boards. As reported in a 2020 story from Crain’s Cleveland, there was barely a seat at the table for diversity, let alone inclusive candor.

Fast forward to today, we’ve discovered the boardrooms of Greater Cleveland are becoming more diverse.

Greater Cleveland is trending higher for diversity within corporate boardrooms than what is seen nationally. When comparing Russell 3000’s 2023 data on Greater Cleveland versus its 2021 national data, Greater Cleveland companies have 19% board diversity while the national data shows 17% board diversity.

Greater Cleveland is also trending higher in gender diversity within company boardrooms, including 30% women and 70% men vs. national rates of 27% women and 73% men.

These figures are significantly higher than what was reported in a 2020 story from Crain’s Cleveland Business, which noted that among 36 Russell companies in Greater Cleveland at the time, only 10.9% of directorships were racially diverse.

“This shows progress,” says Christian Ward, Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Director of Equity & Inclusion. “This shows action plans and progress and speaks to intentionality.

“These increases may sound small, but when you think about how there was limited diversity before, this shows a commitment to reimagining a new way of operating.”

These figures were gathered from 29 companies that are part of the Russell Index and are headquartered in the Greater Cleveland region.

GCP’s review of the Russell Index companies was inspired by our annual Equity and Inclusion Assessment. Upon reviewing the assessment results, we noticed a trend showing a rise in board diversity across the region. GCP’s Equity & Inclusion team compared our assessment results to the Russell Index to verify that Greater Cleveland is showing an increase in board diversity and trending higher than the national figures.

GCP’s Ward says the next steps are clear.

“We keep going. We take a very serious look at our increased diversity -- what did we do differently; what did we consider; how do we look at success? From there, we systemically embed those best practices into the current process. Studies show that board governance is improved when gender and racial diversity are paired with intentional inclusion practices."

“Public or private, profit or non-profit, there is a competitive advantage when leadership and boards resemble the community — because board diversity influences and enhances business practices. When companies have diverse representation, they have better business results.”

 Learn More

The Influence of Board Diversity, Board Diversity Policies and Practices, and Board Inclusion Behaviors on Nonprofit Governance Practices (uw.edu)