Former Gates Foundation COO: How diverse board members change the dynamic

Former Gates Foundation COO shares an inside look at how diverse board members change the dynamic

What you probably already know: The number of women and underrepresented groups on public boards is improving, albeit slowly, thanks to the work of advocates inside and outside the board room. But what happens when these diverse voices walk into the board room and start to participate? For Connie Collingsworth, who has served on around 25 boards throughout her career, it’s not always immediately obvious, but it can be meaningful.

Why? Collingsworth, who was the COO and Chief Legal Officer for the Gates Foundation, has served on the Banner Bank Corp. board for 11 years and recently took over as chair of the governance committee. Under her leadership, the committee has transformed the makeup of the Banner board, which, until recently was almost entirely former CEOs, most of whom were white men from similar social circles. Now the board has four women, two Black directors and a Hispanic chairperson on a board of 11.

What it means: “I’m very proud of the impact that has had, not just on the composition of the board, but on how the board thinks, how the board works with management and how the board holds itself accountable,” Collingsworth said. There have been a variety of studies on the topic of board diversity and its correlation with effectiveness, and the conclusions are mixed. Part of that may be that many of the newer board members are the diverse members, and thus, are only just now moving into positions of power on these boards.

What happens now? Often, her older male colleagues simply don’t know any qualified women because when they were leading their companies, the top ranks were entirely male. “They didn’t have counterparts that were females,” she said. She’s been able to tap her own network to diversify the boards where she serves. Bringing diverse voices into the boardroom is important, Collingsworth said, because the people sitting around that table “decide what your family leave policy is, how much the company contributes to your 401k, whether you have a DE&I policy, and who gets promoted,” she said. “That seat has a lot of power.”