Where is the diversity on boards?

I am a white woman and a journalist born and raised at the Northeast region of Brazil. When I was 23 years old, I decided to build a corporate career in S?o Paulo and accepted as “normal” to be part of an environment made by men for men, who all look like each other.

I believed in male, white, heterosexual, no apparent disabilities and elite meritocracy. I learned not to listen to sexist, xenophobic jokes and to neutralize the moral and sexual harassment that I and the women around me suffered.

I accepted that it was part of reality not to have women occupying leadership and power positions, and that the limits of a woman's ambition and salary were predetermined, and our opportunities were smaller.

We were evaluated for the service rendered while men, our peers, were evaluated for the potential their male bosses saw in them. And as I grew in my career, I also learned to take it for granted that I was the only woman in the room.

Until I was 45 years old, I was completely unaware of my privileges, gender inequality and the absolute lack of diversity in the corporate market. That's because I, like you, measured the world by my ruler: "if I, a woman from the Northeast region of Brazil, who came to S?o Paulo without knowing anyone, had built a successful career, any woman would be able to do the same, all she had to do was to want it and work hard, right?” Wrong.

State of consciousness

Six years ago, when I became aware of gender inequality in all sectors of our society, I looked at the positions of high leadership and power in public and private companies and saw only white men, clones of each other.

When I looked at the boards, I only saw white, identical former CEOs, with the same education, experience, trajectory and repertoire. A kind of elite troop, a club of fellow brothers and comrades.

From a distance, the boards seemed to me exclusively male places, a haven for the retirement of business leaders, who guaranteed status, excellent pay, little work, and professional longevity to the successful men in the market.

For nearly five years, I have asked myself every day: where are the women in positions of power, in top leadership and on corporate boards? When looking for answers, I see with discouragement how little progress we have made – only 16% of Brazilian companies are led by women and we only represent 11.5% of board members. Almost 100% of these women are white.

Inclusion and diversity on boards do start with women, as we are the majority of the Brazilian population and are responsible for 80% of consumption decisions in Brazil. Furthermore, we cannot forget that anyone of us are here today because a woman, our mother, chose to bring us into the world, donating her body to be our first home.

Other voices on boards

But inclusion and diversity on boards are not limited to us, white women. Where are the black men? Where are the black women? Where are LGBTQIA+ people? Where are people with disabilities? Where is the regional diversity, the generational diversity, the diversity of talents and knowledge?

What do we need to understand that without diversity there is no innovation? And that without innovation there is no business sustainability?

How is it possible to make the best business decisions in a diverse society, with singular and plural clients, if we only have identical leaders and advisors, members of the same bubble, with all the same intrinsic unconscious biases and prejudices?

Who represents the client within the boards? Who likes and understands people? Who knows how to communicate, inspire and engage? Who has a collective conscience and commitment to the sustainable development of the planet? Who practices stakeholder capitalism? For all stakeholders?

Self-responsibility

All these matters are urgent and concern the tomorrow we build here and now. Me, you, all of us. We need to turn intention into action. Put the speech into practice, walk the talk with intensity and agility. The change we want and need starts with us and depends on us. The responsibility is ours.

#FairCause #CLevelDIversity #Inclusion #ESG

I am Neivia Justa, awarded and recognized Brazilian businesswoman, mother of Luiza and Julia, two teenager girls, jornalist, entrepreneur, influencer, teacher, mentor, consultant and connector of purposeful leaders who think, communicate and act in a conscious, diverse, inclusive and innovative way to guarantee a sustainable future for all.

Article originally published on Revista HSM Management: https://www.revistahsm.com.br/post/onde-esta-a-diversidade-nos-conselhos-administrativos