News

Meet the little-known first Black woman to sit on a Fortune 500 corporate board

Who was the first Black woman to join the board of a large U.S. public company?

Until recently, a quick Google search would have directed you to Dolores Wharton, a prominent foundation executive who was married to the late Clifton Wharton Jr., former Rockefeller Foundation chair, CEO of TIAA, and university president.

But that information turned out to be incorrect, according to findings unearthed two years ago by Black Women on Boards (BWOB), a networking and board training organization. The first Black woman on a Fortune 500 board, one member discovered, was actually Patricia Roberts Harris, the late American lawyer, cabinet secretary, and diplomat, who was elected to the board of IBM in 1971. (Wharton had joined the boards of Kellogg and Phillips Petroleum in 1976.)

Now Harris’s feat—breaking into the apex of corporate power once reserved for white men—is not only recognized by the world’s search engine, it’s also celebrated in OnBoard, a new documentary about Harris and the women who have followed suit, often as the first or only Black woman in the boardroom.

Merline Saintil, cofounder of BWOB and co–executive producer and coproducer of OnBoard, says the film is part of a wider mission to normalize Black women’s corporate success and show fellow Black executives that there’s a pathway to the boardroom because someone went first.

Patricia Roberts Harris, that someone, was repeatedly first throughout her career.

When she died in 1985, obituaries outlined the remarkable trajectory of her life. She was born into a working-class family in Illinois; attended Howard University on a scholarship, graduating summa cum laude; and worked her way into D.C.’s inner circle. Friends and colleagues described her to the New York Times as a lawyer with a “steel-trap mind” and a self-assured leader with a certain “duality” about her—at once tough, sharp, and charming.

Harris graduated from the George Washington University Law School, first in her class, in 1960. By the time she got the call from IBM, she had been a corporate lawyer, the dean of Howard University School of Law, an organizer for the Democratic Party, cochair of the National Women’s Committee for Civil Rights, and the first Black woman to become an ambassador (to Luxembourg). IBM was not her only board; she later served on those of Scott Paper and Chase Manhattan Bank.

Harris left her IBM directorship in 1977 when she was invited to the U.S. cabinet, serving as secretary of Housing and Urban Development and later as secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, during the Carter administration.

Before her HUD appointment, she sat for a Senate committee hearing, which produced an exchange that became a part of her legacy. When a lawmaker suggested that Harris, by then among D.C.’s elite, may not be “of the people,” she responded forcefully.

“Senator, to say that I’m not by, and for, and of the people is to show a misunderstanding of who I am and where I came from,” said Harris. “If my life has any meaning at all, it is that those who start as outcasts may end up being part of the system.”

That clip helps to anchor and fuel OnBoard, which debuted at New York City’s Tribeca Festival this week. In 45 minutes, it deftly threads together Harris’s story with that of BWOB, which was launched almost accidentally three years ago by two friends: Saintil, a former Silicon Valley CTO and COO who now sits on the boards of Rocket Lab, GitLab, and three other companies, and Robin Washington, Gilead Sciences’ former CFO, and a director at Salesforce, Alphabet, and Honeywell.

In 2020, they found themselves talking about the surge in requests for Black board members following George Floyd’s murder, as major American firms pledged to fix their company’s race record and diversify their boards. (Although gender diversity has improved over the past few decades, white women—now holding about one-third of board seats—have benefited most. That summer, Black women held only 3% of all Fortune 500 board seats, and 4% of S&P 500 directorships.)

Eager to improve, boards did what boards do: They looked inward, finding Black directors at other companies who might be recruitable. Saintil and Washington were flooded with requests but declined. They had hit capacity. “The way it works, if you’re on board, you’re getting the calls. If you’re not on board, you’re not getting the calls,” says Saintil. “We thought, ‘Hey, we know amazing Black women who just aren’t getting the calls. Can we do something about that?’”

Soon after, the pair organized a Zoom call with 18 Black women executives, which organically evolved into a formal venture. Today, BWOB has more than 200 members globally and more than 30 women placed on public company boards.

Shannon Nash, CFO of Wing, a drone delivery company and Alphabet subsidiary, was among the boxed faces at that Zoom gathering. Her idea was to hire Atlanta-based film director Deborah Riley Draper, whose documentaries bring light to Black history, and make a short film about BWOB’s mission. The multi-hyphenate executive—lawyer, CPA, film producer, and board member at SoFi bank and two other firms—shared her proposal with Saintil and Draper in the fall of 2021during a short trip that began as a vacation.

At the impromptu offsite, the women searched Google for the first Black woman on a board and were led to Wharton. But just two weeks later, Nash learned from Barry Lawson Williams—the retired founder of investment and consulting firm Williams Pacific Ventures, who has served on more than 18 public boards—that Harris was the real trailblazer. He knew because his mother had idolized Harris and followed every move in her career.

The revelation gave the women further resolve: They needed to correct the neglected history of Black women in corporate governance. Nash would be the documentary’s co-executive producer and producer. “We often don’t include, or center, Black women in the story of big business and corporate boardrooms and capitalism, and the interesting thing about that is Black women have been an important part of the American economy since there’s been an American economy,” says Draper, the film’s director.

Shannon Nash, CFO of Wing and OnBoard coproducer, Deborah Riley Drapper, film director, Merline Saintil, cofounder of Black Women on Boards, and Mikki Taylor, editor-at-large, Essence, at the Onboard debut.

Though the documentary doesn’t dive into Harris’s experiences in corporate boardrooms, it offers a broader history of board diversity, honoring 50 of the women who followed Harris in the ’70s, ’80s, until today, and interviewing Black women directors at companies like Zillow, Symbotic, and Williams-Sonoma.

Taking this long view helps to put the current climate—with its anti-woke boycotts—in perspective. The movement to diversify boards won’t be reversed, says Saintil. A just-published board snapshot from Deloitte shows a sharp increase in Black directors, who now hold 12% of Fortune 500 board seats, with Black women seeing the largest increase (a 47% jump) in new placements since 2020. “It may not continue at the pace it has been in the last few years, post–George Floyd, but the idea that we would turn back and not continue to think of diversity as an advantage and criteria by which we look at things is not possible,” says Saintil. Companies are aware that boardroom diversity leads to stronger performance and better decisions, and groups like BWOB are debunking the myth that there aren’t enough Black executives with the right experience to be directors.

In the past, the barriers that kept Black women out of the CFO and CEO positions played into the absence of Black female directors since boards have traditionally been composed of only executives who have held those roles. Today, says Saintil, more Black executives hold such titles, and boards are tapping directors with varied professional backgrounds. “Now you get your technologists, product people, chief marketing people, CHROs, and a wider group of C-suite executives,” she notes. But Black women still lack the social capital required to join boards. They need introductions, robust networks, golf games with CEOs (which BWOB has arranged), and ongoing support once they become a board member, says Saintil.

Like Harris, who was “not in the self-promotion business” according to her contemporaries, Saintil admits that she doesn’t love the limelight of her new role. At first, she recoiled at the thought of making a documentary—dealing with the hair, the makeup, the press appearances—until she considered the impact the film could have. “I know we will inspire people to think more broadly, that they could reach this trajectory. We will educate people on what boards do,” she says, “We will get people fired up and inspired.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

More from Fortune: 5 side hustles where you may earn over $20,000 per year—all while working from homeLooking to make extra cash? This CD has a 5.15% APY right nowBuying a house? Here’s how much to saveThis is how much money you need to earn annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home

Related Posts

Journalist visited by police over year-old social media post WON’T be charged as force drops probe

A journalist who was visited by police for allegedly stirring up racial hatred with a social media post made last year, will not be charged, the force has said. Essex Police has today dropped its investigation into Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over a tweet that was posted, and then quickly deleted, in November 2023. It comes after the force was advised by Crown Prosecution Service lawyers that it’s case failed to meet the evidential test.

Trump breaks his silence on Matt Gaetz’s withdrawing as his AG pick and why he ‘respects’ the decision

President-elect Donald Trump reacted to the news that his nominee for attorney general former Rep. Matt Gaetz suddenly withdrew his name from consideration. ‘I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect.’ Gaetz, a unequivocal supporter of President Trump, had earned respect from the president-elect despite the salacious allegations that followed him.

Jay Leno sparks wild gambling debt conspiracy theory as fans question his bruised face

Jay Leno has sparked a wild conspiracy theory after suffering a 60-foot fall down a hill that left him with significant bruising to the left side of his face, an eyepatch and a broken wrist. Despite revealing that his injuries were sustained during his nasty tumble while staying at a Hampton Inn, social media users began speculating that the 74-year-old comedian, whose net worth is estimated to be around $450 million, might be lying. Some conspiracy theorists on X (previously known as Twitter) shared a number of unsubstantiated theories that he was the victim of loan sharks, the mafia or someone he has ‘dirt on.’

Moment Australian official performs acknowledgement of country in AZERBAIJAN during climate change conference: ‘Farce’

A year on from the failed Voice referendum, the value of acknowledgement of country ceremonies are again being widely debated in Australia. But no one expected such a ceremony would be performed by an Australian government delegation in the Azerbaijan, 13,230km from Sydney, which has been dubbed ‘a complete farce’. Most Australians probably couldn’t find Azerbaijan on a map – it’s a former Soviet republic, partly in Asia and partly in Europe – but that didn’t stop delegate Dr Clare Anderson from performing an acknowledgement of country there to a near empty-room.

How Majorie Taylor Greene will help Musk and Vivek upend the federal government and abolish work from home

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will soon have a new powerful job assisting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer plans to create a Congressional subcommittee chaired by the firebrand Republican from Georgia. Greene confirmed the ‘big news,’ writing on X that she’ll be working closely with Trump’s top allies.

That’s just bananas! ‘Pure genius’ work of fruit duct-taped to a wall sells for eye-watering $6.2 MILLION at Sotheby’s auction

An art installation of a banana duct taped to a wall that was previously hailed as a ‘defiant work of pure genius’ has sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $6.2 million. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’ piece was snatched up by Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who outbid six other offers on Wednesday. ‘After over 6 minutes of heated bidding, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s and Chairman of Sotheby’s China, Jen Hua, placed the winning bid for ‘Comedian’ on behalf of, Chinese collector and founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON, Sotheby’s announced on X.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *