When this California company tried to build a diverse board, 'it was really hard to find people,' said the co-CEO of Shift, an online used-car seller. California law now requires publicly-traded companies based in the state to have more diverse boards.
For the gay, immigrant co-chief executive of soon-to-be-public Shift Technologies Inc., it was important that the board of his company not be made up of a majority of straight, white men.
Arison, who said he is no fan of government-mandated “quotas” and prefers corporate actions that drive change, said it was “critical” to find women for Shift’s board because data show that companies that have female directors perform better. Besides, the company should “represent all the people you cater to,” he added.
Victoria McInnis, a veteran of General Motors Co. GM, -0.15% who brings audit and tax expertise and was an audit chair for VectoIQ, the SPAC that recently completed its merger with electric-truck maker Nikola Corp. NKLA, -1.36%, is one of two women who joined the board last month. “Only 10 of them had a woman in the call,” he said. “That’s insane when you think about it. I don’t want my daughter growing up 25 years from now having to face that situation.”“We’ve done our best to include men and women, straight and gay as well as immigrants and people of different ethnicities, heritages and races on our board,” said Arison, an immigrant from former Soviet republic Georgia. He added that the board will continue to evolve and its makeup will change.
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