In the esteemed C-suites of corporate America, we have been waiting far too long for Black women to join the ranks of chief executive officers of Fortune 500 companies. In 2020, women held the top job at just 37 out of these 500 companies — a record high of 7.4% — and none of those women were Black. Ursula Burns, the first Black woman to ever helm a Fortune 500 company, stepped down from Xerox six years ago. When Rosalind Brewer takes over as the new CEO of Walgreens on March 15, she’ll be the second, and Thasunda Brown Duckett will be the third when she becomes CEO of TIAA in May.
How a Lack of Sponsorship Keeps Black Women Out of the C-Suite
Before 2021, only one Black woman had been CEO of a Fortune 500 company. If we want to see more Black women step into the C-suite, and specifically into CEO positions, they must be sponsored into positions that offer a clear path to the top along with direct advocacy and support. Sponsorship requires leaders to vouch for the merit and legitimacy of protégés as potential successors, and has proved to be a powerful tool for elevating male leaders. Black women, however, find it harder than their white male counterparts to attract sponsors. But leaders and companies can address this by re-imagining the diversity imperative, reviewing succession plans annually, bringing sponsorship into the open and rewarding it, and examining the barriers to CEO succession for Black women.