NEW YORK, NY – Following yesterday’s launch of The LGBTQ+ Board Alliance, a new global organization seeking to address the lack of LGBTQ+ corporate board members, Out Leadership announced today the release of the 4th annual LGBTQ+ Board Diversity Report, sponsored by Egon Zehder and KPMG, a ground-breaking report that has driven fundamental change in board diversity policies around the world. The data contained in this year’s report reveals that while LGBTQ+ inclusive policies continue to increase in companies worldwide, actual representation by LGBTQ+ directors remains low.
“While the adoption of LGBTQ+ inclusive corporate board policies continues to increase each year in the nine years since Out Leadership began focusing on board diversity, translating those policies into actual LGBTQ+ representation on boards has been disappointingly low. LGBTQ+ individuals continue to lag too far behind in actual representation on corporate boards in proportion to the number of policies,” said Todd Sears, Founder & CEO of Out Leadership.
Nine years ago, Out Leadership began the LGBTQ+ board diversity conversation, when only two companies in the Fortune 500 included LGBTQ+ individuals in the definition of board diversity. In 2020, Out Leadership launched the first Visibility Counts study, the first mapping of LGBTQ+ board diversity policies in the world, sharing the board policies of the Fortune 500. Each year since, Out Leadership has added global exchanges, steadily increasing the number of companies. Alongside this data, Out Leadership has published board diversity policies for the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia & Hong Kong, with the goal of helping companies become more inclusive and therefore doing better business.
With these tools and the visibility created by the data, LGBTQ+ inclusive board policies have sky-rocketed. Today, over 30% of Fortune 500 listed companies have LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and over 51% of Nasdaq listed companies are LGBTQ+ inclusive in their policies, which was directly impacted by the 2022 Nasdaq Diversity Rule, which Out Leadership helped shape, that required companies to have board diversity policies. From 2022-2023, the jump in inclusive board policies went from 113 to 1,871 companies.
“Egon Zehnder is proud to be the founding global search partner of Out Leadership’s board diversity programme and to contribute to research that demonstrates gradual, yet substantive change in board representation can be made,” said Karoline Vinsrygg, Head of UK Board Practice at Egon Zehnder. “At a time when some may be questioning the meaning of inclusivity, it’s more important than ever to have insights like these to give businesses a roadmap to identify and achieve tangible progress at the board level and beyond.”
In the 2024 report, Out Leadership has again expanded its scope, reporting on the board diversity policies of over 5,000 companies across the globe—including the Fortune 1000, Nasdaq, NYSE, S&P/ TSX Composite Index, FTSE, Euronext, ASX, HSI, and Nikkei. Despite the massive increase in inclusive policies, however, actual board seats held by LGBTQ+ leaders lag far behind.
- Only 45 corporate board of directors’ seats are held by LGBTQ+ individuals, out of a total of 5,449 board seats in Fortune 500 companies, accounting for less than 1%.
- 51% of Nasdaq-listed companies now have LGBTQ+ inclusive board policies, compared to 4.2% in 2022 – a record-shattering 1104% percent increase from 2022-2024.
- 31.6% of Fortune 1000 companies have LGBTQ+ inclusive board diversity policies.
- Only 74 out of 7,767 board seats are held by LGBTQ+ individuals (less than 1%) as of 2024
- Only 22.8% of NYSE 100 companies have LGBTQ+ board diversity policies set in place—less than half the number of Nasdaq companies. Unlike the Nasdaq, the NYSE does not have a board diversity rule for its listed companies.
- 14% of FTSE 350-listed companies now have LGBTQ+ inclusive board policies – a 69% increase in one year (29 in 2023, compared to 49 in 2024).
“As we at the KPMG Board Leadership Center know well, the LGBTQ+ community offers a wealth of talent and should not be overlooked. While the report illustrates the progress that has been made, more is needed. KPMG is proud to stand with Out Leadership to continue to drive the conversation forward,” said Susan Angele, Senior Adviser, KPMG Board Leadership Center
Todd Sears added “Collaborations such as this would not be possible without the foundational support and generosity of founding members of Out Leadership’s Board work such as Egon Zehnder and KPMG which have been instrumental in providing their support from the beginning to help further advance and build progress for LGBTQ+ and diverse Board representation.”
The LGBTQ+ Board Alliance is a global organization dedicated to advancing LGBTQ+ board diversity by implementing inclusive policies, securing board seats for LGBTQ+ individuals, and driving meaningful progress in corporate leadership. This partnership positions The LGBTQ+ Board Alliance as the leading authority on LGBTQ+ inclusion in corporate boardrooms worldwide with a mission dedicated to advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion in corporate leadership. The LGBTQ+ Board Alliance will work to implement inclusive board policies, secure board placements for LGBTQ+ individuals, and drive meaningful progress for LGBTQ+ representation at the board level. To learn more about the LGBTQ+ Board Alliance, please visit here.
Media interested in interviews with Out Leadership about its new data and/or LGBTQ+ board representation, please contact: Kristofer Eisenla at kristofer@lunaeisenla.com
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About Out Leadership
Out Leadership is the world’s premier global platform for businesses to drive LGBTQ+ equality. Out Leadership works closely with the world’s leading companies to develop extraordinary talent, produce cutting-edge research, advance powerful advocacy, and improve business outcomes. Since 2011, Out Leadership has advised hundreds of the world’s most powerful companies in the world on LGBTQ+ issues. Out Leadership is a certified B Corp and NGLCC certified LGBTBE. To learn more visit: outleadership.com.
About Egon Zehnder
Egon Zehnder is the world’s preeminent leadership advisory firm, inspiring leaders to navigate complex questions with human answers. We help organizations get to the heart of their leadership challenges and offer honest feedback and insights to help leaders realize their true being and purpose. We are built on a foundation that supports partnership in the truest sense of the word and aligns our interests with the interests of our clients. Our 600 consultants across 66 offices and 36 countries are former industry and functional leaders who collaborate seamlessly to deliver the full power of the Firm to every client, every time. We believe that together we can transform people, organizations and the world through leadership. To learn more, visit EgonZehnder.com
About KPMG
The KPMG Board Leadership Center (BLC) champions outstanding corporate governance to drive long-term value and enhance stakeholder confidence. Through an array of insights, perspectives, and programs, the BLC—which includes the KPMG Audit Committee Institute and close collaboration with other leading director organizations—promotes continuous education and improvement of public and private company governance. BLC engages with directors and business leaders on the critical issues driving board agendas—from strategy, risk, talent, and sustainability to data governance, artificial intelligence, audit quality, proxy trends, and more.
