Washington State Mandates Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

There will be more women on the boards of Washington state corporations if a bill passed by the state legislature this week succeeds in nudging corporations toward gender diversity by imposing transparency requirements.

The bill (SSB 6037) mandates that each public company must have a gender-diverse board of directors by Jan. 1, 2022. Gender diversity is defined as “individuals who self-identify as women,” and they must comprise at least 25% of the board.

Companies without gender-diverse boards must provide a discussion and analysis to shareholders that includes information on how they approach developing and maintaining diversity; mechanisms to ...