It became clear to California Legislators that America’s public corporate board rooms looked nothing like the population of California. Generally, the largest public corporation boards are comprised of white heterosexual males. Apparently, California legislators saw this as a problem and, of course, believed they could legislate a solution.

AB 979 mandated that corporate boards of publicly held companies headquartered in California have at least one female director. An additional mandate requires boards to appoint at least one director from an “underrepresented community.” That person can self-identify as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Alaska Native, or gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. This mandate must be achieved by Dec. 31, 2021.

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