Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

Esther Aguilera: "Latinos Are The Most Underrepresented Minorities on U.S. Corporate Boards"

Episode Summary

In this episode, I talk with Esther Aguilera, the President and CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA). LCDA is a national, membership organization promoting C-level and board diversity. It serves as an advocate and resource to corporate boards, search firms, private equity, and institutional investors interested in gaining access to exceptional Latino board talent. For more information about LCDA please go to www.latinocorporatedirectors.org If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing this podcast with colleagues or friends. You can also subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

Episode Notes

  1. Start of interview [1:25]
  2. Esther's "origin story" [1:50]
  3. Her experience at Occidental College [3:55]
  4. Her transition from CA to Washington DC [4:36]
  5. Introduction of the Latino Corporate Director Association (LCDA), founded in 2016 [6:20]
  6. History of LCDA [7:15] Links with the Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility (HACR)
  7. The Mission of LCDA is to 1) develop, 2) support & 3) increase the number of Latinos on Corporate Boards [8:56]
  8. LCDA Pillars [9:06]: 1) Increase supply (Latinos hold less than 3% of Fortune 1000 company board seats) 2) Increase demand, 3) Research and Raising Awareness, 4) Engage with Companies.
  9. The LCDA Board Ready Institute for aspiring directors [12:10]
  10. LCDA Memberships (115 current members: 2/3s corporate directors, 1/3 aspiring directors):
    1. Aspiring Directors (executive membership).
    2. Corporate Directors  (as of 2019, Latino directors held 275 board seats in F1000 companies for a total of only 209 individuals)
  11. CA's Women on Boards Legislation (2018): SB-826 (Gender) [21:16]
    1. LCDA found that out of 511 seats filled by women on California public company boards since SB 826 was enacted, just 17 (3.3%) are Latina, compared to 77.9% white women.
  12. CA's Corporate Boards Diversity Legislation (2020) (pending signature): AB-979 (Minorities)
    1. LCDA found that out of 662 California companies registered on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX, 35%, or 233 companies have all white boards of directors.
    2. LCDA also found that out of these 662 CA companies, only 13% had at least one Latino on their board.
  13. "What ends up happening is that you're setting up winners and losers: if there is only a focus on gender, Latinos and African-American lose out." [24:50]
  14. LCDA's Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity Initiative in partnership with leading business and civic leaders [28:41] The Latino Voices initiative asserts that diversity without the inclusion of Latinos is not acceptable:
    1. Call to triple Latino representation on public company boards by 2023 (currently Latinos hold only 2.2% of Russell 3000 companies per ISS)
    2. Act to target corporations with no Latino representation (for example, Del Taco, Chipotle and el Pollo Loco)
    3. Track progress through publication of a quarterly scorecard.
  15. "If Latinos were a nation, they would be the 8th largest economy in the world, right behind India. IThey are growing at ~5% (similar to India)"
  16. "Diversity is a business and governance imperative"
  17. LCDA has a national campaign (starting in CA). They have a Latino Board Tracker. [36:40]
  18. Her favorite authors: [38:30]
    1. Maya Angelou (poetry)
    2. Rodolfo Anaya (history)
    3. Martin Luther King (struggle)
  19. Her professional mentors: [40:12]
    1. Bill Richardson (former Governor of New Mexico, US Ambassador to the UN, Energy Secretary and U.S. Congressman)
    2. Xavier Becerra (current Attorney General of the State of CA)
    3. Ed Pastor (former U.S. Congressman for Arizona)
  20. Her favorite quote: [43:46]
    1. Bernard Tyson (former Chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente): "When Corporate America lets us Into the room, our contributions are going to be massive when we're given a shot and a chance."

Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License