Oregon State Treasurer Calls For More Diversity in Boardrooms
Studies suggest that greater gender balance among corporate leaders contributes to higher stock values, productivity and profitability, but corporations have either failed to get the message or failed to act on it. According to a press release from Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, "White directors hold 85 percent of the board seats at the largest 200 S&P 500 companies—and the percentage of those boards with exclusively white directors has actually increased over the last decade. Men occupy 80 percent of board seats at S&P 500 companies."
Wheeler and a dozen other investment industry leaders on the Oregon Investment Council released a statement saying, "As fiduciaries, we are unified in the belief that the lack of diversity on corporate boards is a significant risk factor for investors. Corporate boards must do better."
Wheeler said efforts to diversify boardrooms are "unacceptably slow," and called on corporations to "pick up the pace" by adding women, people of color and LGBT members to their boards.
Bend Loses Longtime Community Activist Barbara McAusland
Bend lost a longtime community activist last week with the passing of 88-year-old Barbara McAusland. Born May 26, 1928, in West Point, NY, she worked as an artist and art teacher, earning a master of fine arts in printmaking at the University of Washington.
McAusland moved to Bend in 1994, taking active refuge in hiking and skiing opportunities and maintaining the Todd Lake Trail with her beloved Labrador, Max. She worked tirelessly for sustainable growth in Bend through her service with the public schools site committee, Friends of Bend, the board of the River West Neighborhood Association, and citizen participation in Bend City Council meetings. To the end, McAusland remained optimistic about the future of Bend, and during the June 12 service to celebrate her long and productive life, she left a final message to the town she loved: "Let the river go free!"
