Sheryl Sandberg has been named to the Facebook board of directors today,
Sheryl Sandberg has been named to the Facebook board of directors today, according to press release issued today from Facebook.
Why should your next board member be a woman? The topic of women in the boardroom matters to women because the board wields the real power of a company. If you are missing women in a corporate boardroom, you are missing something obvious – companies with women on their boards have been proven to lead to a higher ROI. You’re missing representation from the other 50% of the population – the women, powerful consumers and producers. This is especially painful in the case of Facebook, whose users consist of 58% women with 0% representation in the highest level of decision-making in a company.
There is still work to be done in bringing more women into the corporate boardroom, but this monumental change shows that change is happening. By highlighting the dearth of women in the boardroom, we are forcing corporations to consider changing. A company’s boardroom diversity is not just for balance but makes smart business sense – companies with women on their boards enjoy a higher return on equity by over 53%, a higher return on sales by over 42%, and a higher return on invested capital by over 66%. Any company without at least one woman on their board is missing an obvious strategic advantage.
Sheryl Sandberg will be the first woman on Facebook’s board. Facebook’s board members are Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Erskine Bowles, James Breyer, Donald Graham, Reed Hastings and Peter Thiel.
Sheryl Sandberg currently serves on the boards of Disney, Women for Women International, the Center for Global Development and V-Day.