Big Increase in Women on Silicon Valley Boards

As of this point in the 2018 proxy sea­son, women direc­tors fill 19% of the board seats on the Lon­er­gan SV150 (board com­po­si­tion data for com­pa­nies with­out a 2018 proxy fil­ing to date came from their web­sites). Com­pared to our study of Sil­i­con Val­ley boards pub­lished in the 2015 Who Runs Sil­i­con Val­ley Board edi­tion, this is an increase of six per­cent­age points. A relent­less focus on gen­der diver­si­ty in the Sil­i­con Val­ley has yield­ed a change in recruit­ment at the board lev­el. In 2017, the por­tion of new board seat appoint­ments filled by women was 32%. The pace for 2018 to date is 35%.

• Board seats filled by women: 153 in mid-2015 ris­ing to 237 today 
• Per­cent women held seats: 13% in mid-2015 ris­ing to 19% today 
• Num­ber of Lon­er­gan SV150 boards with no women direc­tors: 42 in mid-2015 drop­ping to 24 today