Next Gen Board Members: Corporate Board Member Interview

Corporate boards want diversity, but change is slow going. According to PwC,  as of December 2017, there were only 315 directors on the board of S&P 500 public companies under the age of 50. This means that younger directors made up only 6 percent of the board seats.

I’ve written before about what the next generation of corporate boards look like, and this issue is gaining momentum. Generation X and the Millennial board members have skill sets that can complement the skill sets of generations previous—this includes knowledge about technology and digital marketing, but also much more.

These generations have an awareness of key issues that they may take for granted (think the congressional hearing with Facebook), but that are valuable to a board.

In the latest issue of Corporate Board Member magazine, a group of “next generation” board members, including myself, Alex Schmelkin and Sarah Tomolonius, take a deep dive into this topic in an interview with Kerie Kerstetter.

We tackle issues such as:

• Taking on board service mid-career
• Having “age awareness” in the boardroom
• How generational knowledge can impact boards
• Board training and orientation
• Advice for aspiring directors

You can view the article in this interactive edition of Corporate Board Member below.