On October 5, 2020, Belinda Vega was quoted in SHRM on AB 979, a California law that is intended to broaden corporate board diversity by mandating the appointment of directors who identify as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, or gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
According to the article, AB 979 is modeled on SB 826, a 2018 bill that was signed into law and requires boards of California-based publicly held companies to have at least one female director by the end of 2019 and to increase the number of female directors by the end of 2021. Violators of either law can be fined as much as $300,000.
Diverse boards make more-nuanced decisions and are more open to new ideas, said Vega. "It adds a different level of experience in terms of facing challenges. Women have a different way of approaching risk and innovation, and that's also true for people who are minorities. We all bring our experiences to the table," said Vega.
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