Ford director Kimberly Casiano on speaking up about diversity in the corporate boardroom

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Ford director Kimberly Casiano was the first Hispanic woman to serve on a Fortune 100 top five corporate board. A founding member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association, she also serves on the boards for Mead Johnson Nutrition and Mutual of America.

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er firm, Kimberly Casiano & Associates, provides advisory services to help businesses reach the U.S. Hispanic market, the Caribbean and Latin America. She recently spoke with CNBC about diversity in corporate America ahead of the Equity and Opportunity Forum on April 4. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CNBC: You were the first Hispanic woman to serve on one of the top five Fortune 100 corporate boards, but as of 2022, corporate boards continue to remain majority white and male. What do you see as the biggest obstacle to diversifying corporate boards?

Casiano: The biggest obstacle to diversity is lack of true buy-in — as I call it, "true believers." Believers are the decision makers in companies who are truly convinced of the proven business case that diversity in their workforce, in management, and on the board of directors leads to a diversity of perspectives and more innovation, which in turn leads to more profitability. These believers truly understand that a board table composed of homogeneous white males whose life experiences and social circles are largely the same is not optimal for generating innovative ideas.

Leaders cannot make the best decisions when they are in an echo chamber where they don't get challenged with different perspectives and feedback. In addition, companies should reflect their customers. The United States is no longer overwhelmingly plain vanilla. These "true believers" believe that diversity makes good business sense.

Over that past 18 years that I have sat in Fortune 500 boardrooms, I have seen a multitude of polite nods whenever diversity and inclusion is discussed. Unfortunately, I believe that until diversity or inequality has touched someone personally, people do not become "true believers."

Increasingly, more often in recent times, I have personally experienced white men at board dinners and business events telling me stories of how frustrated they feel because their daughters have experienced discrimination or have hit the glass ceiling. They also tell me stories of how their daughters or sons or nieces or nephews have married a Hispanic – so they proudly let me know that they have half Hispanic grandchildren and family members. No amount of studies about the business case for diversity can compare with the change in mindset when diversity touches your family. Personal experience leads to the true evolution of values and mindsets.

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