SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In the last five years, women’s representation on public companies’ boards in California has nearly tripled, going from 766 to just over 2,100.

However, there is still progress to be made. According to the California’s Partner’s Project (CPP), women hold around a third of the board seats.

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who spearheads the CPP, unveiled a Board Diversity Playbook that provides a step-by-step plan on how to create a more inclusive recruitment process for corporations. Siebel Newsom unveiled the playbook at her alma mater, Stanford University, in front of business leaders and equity advocates.

“We’re going to create a better society, a better economy and have more peace and prosperity when we listen to women and when we allow them to step in their natural power when they’re in leadership,” Siebel Newsom said. 

The playbook was designed as a free online resource by Siebel Newsom in partnership with Stanford University’s VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab. It’s designed as a resource for CEOs and board hiring committees to use during the recruitment process.

The new online tool is broken down into four steps: Find the gaps, expand your networks, create an equitable interview process, and onboard intentionally.

“One of the reasons I think this playbook is going to be so effective for all boards, not just public company boards, is that it gives you very specific tools and resources and steps that you can take to ensure that you expand your talent pool,” Siebel Newsom said.

Companies with three or more female directors reported earnings that were 45% then those with no women, according to a Morgan Stanley study.

In 99% of California companies, there is at least one woman on its board. This is because of SB 826, which requires corporations to have a minimum number of female directors.

“A third of the board seats in California are held by women, so that’s tremendous. When we started looking at the number in 2018, 15.5% of the board seats were held by women so we’ve more than doubled the representation on public company boards in California as a result of this legislation,” Siebel Newsom said.by women so we’ve more than doubled the representation on public company boards in California as a result of this legislation,” Siebel Newsom said.

While progress has been made since SB 826 took effect, Siebel Newsom acknowledged there’s more work to be done by companies to recruit more women of color.

“In California, Latina women represent 20% of our population but are only one and a half percent of board seats. If you were to include all women of color, that’s 30% of our population and yet women of color only represent 9% of our public company board seats,” Siebel Newsom said.

SB 826 was ruled unconstitutional by an LA County Superior Court judge last year. Despite the legal challenges, Siebel Newsom notes the legislation served as the catalyst to get more corporations to diversify their boards by adding more women at the decision-making tables.

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