Revealing Latinos absent from 69% of Fortune 1000 boards

Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) released a new report, the 2021 Latino Board Monitor, revealing a lack of US Latino representation on the largest company boards in the country. Latino directors are missing on 47% of Fortune 100 boards, while the Fortune 1000 fares worse with 69% of companies lacking a US Latino perspective.

“In a country where the US Latino GDP is $2.7 trillion and accounting for 28% of GDP volume growth, every company should want this perspective in their governance responsibilities. If companies want to grow even faster in the new mainstream economy, every board should begin immediately placing Latina(o)s on their board and c-suite positions… because we all know, no one wants to be seen as leaving money on the table,” stated Sol Trujillo, Chairman of Trujillo Group Investments and Co-Founder of L’ATTITUDE and Latino Donor Collaborative.

LCDA’s review found that 53 Fortune 100 companies have US Latino boardroom representation, indicating that a majority of the nation’s largest corporations value a US Latino perspective in the boardroom. Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, Berkshire Hathaway, AmerisourceBergen, and Alphabet Inc. top the list of 47 Fortune 100 companies without US Latinos on the board. LCDA’s report includes the full listing of Fortune 1000 companies with and without Latinos on the board.

“A commitment to diversity and inclusion is incomplete without Latinos who are two in ten Americans and control over $1.85 trillion of the US purchasing power. Investors understand the business value and want corporate boards to better reflect their customers, employees, and community base,” stated Roel Campos, LCDA Board Chair and Former Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

US Latinos are the second largest US population group totaling 62.1 million, but have the widest representation gap to close in the boardroom. State-by-state, the gap is even wider. California, Texas, New York, and Illinois, respectively, have the largest number of Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in their state and some of the largest Latino populations in the country, but the great majority of companies in each state lack US Latinos on their boards.

The 2021 findings confirm Latinos have been left out of Fortune 1000 boardrooms for decades. LCDA is working to change the misperception that Latino business leaders are hard to find, by providing corporate boards with a trusted talent resource for experienced Latino board directors and executives primed for the boardroom.

“Supply is not the issue. Despite a strong qualified pool, Latinos have long been systematically  bypassed. This is unacceptable in 21st Century America. There’s ample Latino board talent with extensive business experience from all industries,” said Esther Aguilera, President and CEO of Latino Corporate Directors Association.

Every year, LCDA will release a board audit of Latino representation on Fortune 1000 companies in conjunction with the L’ATTITUDE business leaders conference. To search an up-to-date database of Fortune 1000 companies by state and sector, visit LCDA’s Latino Board Tracker at www.latinoboardtracker.org, the first publicly available search tool tracking US Latino representation on F1000 corporate boards .