California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, in collaboration with the California Partners Project and Stanford, has unveiled the Board Culture Playbook on January 26, 2024. This playbook aims to assist companies in enhancing the presence of women, especially women of color, on their boards of directors. As the second installment in a series that began with the Board Diversity Playbook released last year, the Board Culture Playbook is a unique and freely available resource co-created with Stanford’s VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab, and with additional support from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The Playbook’s release underscores the commitment to actively increasing diverse women’s representation in positions of power, recognizing the significance of this initiative for both the economy and corporate culture. First Partner Siebel Newsom expressed pride in California’s leadership on this critical issue and encouraged boards across various sectors to leverage this valuable resource.
The Board Culture Playbook provides actionable strategies to foster and utilize diverse voices within the boardroom, complementing the Board Diversity Playbook’s focus on recruitment. The playbook draws insights from focus groups with board directors, leaders from Fortune 100 companies, and relevant research, offering a comprehensive guide to building an inclusive board culture.
Research findings support the idea that increased board gender diversity positively impacts corporate revenue and board performance. According to the California Partners Project’s “The Big Picture report,” companies with 30% or more women directors correlated with higher revenue. Additionally, a 2023 directors’ survey indicated that 82% of directors believe diversity enhances board performance. Another study from 2017 found that U.S. companies with three or more female directors reported significantly higher earnings per share than those with no female directors.
Senate Bill 826, enacted in 2018, mandated California’s public companies to have one to three women on their boards by the end of 2021. Initial results were promising, with the percentage of board seats held by women more than doubling from 15.5% in 2018 to nearly 4% above the national average. However, legal challenges led to a slight decline in 2023, from 33.3% to 32.73%.
First Partner Siebel Newsom’s commitment to women’s needs is evident through initiatives like California for ALL Women, where she actively works towards economic equity, equal representation, and a family-first agenda. Simultaneously, through California for ALL Kids, she advocates for policies supporting children’s mental and physical health, ensuring families have the necessary resources for their children’s well-being.
