The Board Challenge mission is clear

The Board Challenge is a movement to improve the representation of Black directors in the boardrooms of U.S. public and private companies.
  • Pledge Partners: Commit to add a Black director to your board of directors within the next year.
  • Charter Partners and Supporters: If your organization has at least one Black director, pledge to foster continued efforts for change. Introduce your network to The Board Challenge—and leverage your influence and resources to improve board diversity representation.

Take the Pledge
Headshot of Crystal.

The data is clear that companies with diverse boards outperform in the marketplace.

– Crystal Ashby, Former President and CEO, The Executive Leadership Council

  • The Board Challenge (TBC) founders and our 75+ Partners and Supporters believe now is the time to engage business leaders across industries to make board diversity a business imperative.
  • Extensive academic and industry research demonstrates that diverse boards are positively associated with improved corporate governance and financial performance.
  • Board diversity helps advance a more equitable society. The “heightened focus on corporate board diversity by companies, investors, corporate governance organizations, and legislators demonstrates that investor confidence is enhanced when boardrooms are comprised of more than one demographic group,” according to Nasdaq.

Our resources to fuel the challenge are free

Logo for The Board Challenge.

THE BOARD CHALLENGE helps our Pledge Partners and other interested organizations connect with talented Black candidates for their boards.You can nominate board-ready candidates here.

Logo for The Boardlist.

Pledge partners receive a free list of candidates curated to their search criteria from theBoardList, a premium talent marketplace with more than 16,000 members.

Logo for Valence.

Valence, a community of more than 10,000 top Black professionals, also assists in the search process by connecting companies with both current board directors and a wide slate of board-ready candidates.