October 30, 2013
Understanding Board Diversity: It’s About Performance
Good news! According to this article, Twitter may add a woman for its board soon after its IPO. On my various blogs, I’ve provided news about board diversity numerous times – about how gender diversity has flatlined this decade in the US, the growing push for it, proposals for minimum levels of female directors and for at least interviewing a woman when a board seat is open. Plugging “diversity” into my various blogs retrieves a few dozen results (and admittedly they often deal with gender diversity – not racial or other diversity problems that loom even larger).
With the topic increasingly in the news – the latest being the flap about Twitter’s all-male board – I’m not sure I’ve ever done the topic the justice it deserves like this Huffington Post piece (also see this blog by Akin Gump’s Kerry Berchem, Fortune article, DealBook article and Forbes one). The purpose of diversity is not for diversity’s sake. It’s because it produces a better board – and hence a better company…
I’ve read – and heard – a lot of folks that were quite angry at Twitter. And they were reaching out to Twitter in different ways. Here’s an example from Sara Hanks’ blog….
BoardProspects: A New Director Recruiting Tool
In this podcast, Mark Rogers discusses his new service, BoardProspects, including:
– How does BoardProspects compare to traditional director recruiting?
– How does it work for those seeking director candidates?
– How does it work for those seeking to become a director?
Particularly if you are in NYC, SF and LA, check out “SweatGuru,” which launches today and was voted San Francisco’s hottest startup. Our very own Alyse Mason Brill is a co-founder. The site helps you manage reservations in fitness classes – and helps those running classes to communicate easily with their clients (including collecting fees) – learn more in this article. Great site and coming to your city soon!
Corp Fin Updates Financial Reporting Manual (Again)
Yesterday, Corp Fin indicated that it has updated its Financial Reporting Manual for issues related to FRM guidance for the JOBS Act – and issues related to Form 8-K age of interim financial statements, acquisitions of selected parts of an entity that may result in less than full financial statements, Form 8-K requirements in reporting a disposition, the effect of retrospectively applied changes in accounting principles on the significance test for equity method investees, and registrations on Form S-8 for a new employee benefit plan.
– Broc Romanek