Update
Pursuant to the Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (PDF) filed June 2, 2022 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 20STCV37513 and the Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (PDF) filed July 15, 2022 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 19STCV27561, the Secretary of State is enjoined and prohibited from expending or causing any expenditure of the estate, funds, or other property of the State on California Corporations Code sections 301.3, 301.4, 2115.5 and 2115.6 (the "Diversity on Boards" statutes). The Secretary of State's office is not currently collecting data related to Diversity on Boards, and the Publicly Traded Disclosure Statement has been revised to remove the four data fields which collected such data.
By December 31, 2021, Underrepresented Communities on Boards (AB 979) requires all publicly held domestic or foreign corporations whose principal executive offices are located in California to have at least one director from an underrepresented community on their boards, either by filling an open seat or by adding a seat. By December 31, 2022, such publicly held corporations will be required to have minimum numbers of directors from underrepresented communities based on the total size of the corporation's board of directors.
A director from an underrepresented community is an individual who self-identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
Underrepresented Communities on Boards is an important step in diversity and inclusion in California. The Secretary of State's office is tasked to review and issue reports regarding the corporations' compliance with the bill’s provisions. The first report including data on Underrepresented Communities on Boards was published on March 1, 2022.
