WASHINGTON, October 7, 2022 /3BL Media/ – HACR will ring the closing bell at the Nasdaq today, Friday, October 7, at 4 pm ET in New York City, on the eve of the final week of Hispanic Heritage Month. The ceremony is a symbolic nod to HACR’s work over the last 36 years as a leading organization that is advancing inclusion in Corporate America, especially in the C-suite and corporate boards.
“As a national organization that advocates for increased Hispanic inclusion at all levels of Corporate America, especially in the C-suites and corporate boards, we are honored to take part in the Nasdaq closing bell ceremony at such a symbolic time for our community,” said Cid Wilson, President and CEO of HACR. “This is a strong testament to the credibility of HACR in the community and on Wall Street. I’m especially grateful to Nasdaq’s President and CEO, Adena Friedman and her team for championing board diversity for Nasdaq-listed companies.”
“Today’s closing bell ceremony at Nasdaq marks an important acknowledgement of the power of inclusion, as we renew our call for corporate America to shape an inclusive future. We are thankful for our many HACR corporate members who stand by our mission and welcome companies who are ready to join our movement,” concluded Wilson.
A live stream of the Nasdaq Closing Bell will be available at:
https://www.nasdaq.com/marketsite/bell-ringing-ceremony
In 2020, HACR joined with Nasdaq in their letter to the SEC seeking approval for new listing standards that would require board diversity for Nasdaq-listed companies. The global securities exchange had sought to require corporations to disclose board race and gender statistics as part of their listing requirements, and to have a minimum of two diverse directors—one self-identifying female, and one self-identifying underrepresented minority or LGBTQAI+ directors. The Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 6, 2021.
The move aligned with HACR’s work as a member of the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD), along with co-members, Catalyst, The Executive Leadership Council, and Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics [LEAP] with Diversified Search as a consulting member. The ABD published a report in 2020 in collaboration with Deloitte titled: Missing Pieces Report: The Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards, 6th edition, that found that only 4.1% of Fortune 500 board seats were held by Latinos, and only one percent of board seats were held by Latinas. Growth in representation has remained mostly stagnant for more than a decade, based on HACR and ABD research.
HACR released its annual 2022 HACR Corporate Inclusion Index™ Report (CII) on September 28, 2022. Since 2009, the HACR CII survey has been the nation’s leading corporate accountability indicator that measures inclusion in four key measurement categories: Employment, Procurement, Philanthropy, and Governance. Companies who receive 5-star ratings are recognized annually for their performance.