By Bob Katzen

A bill being considered by the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee would require that corporate boards of directors of large Massachusetts-based firms include at least one woman on their board of director by January 2022. In January 2024, boards of directors with six or more directors would be required to have three female board members and boards of directors with five or fewer directors must have two female members.

“Increasing diversity in our state’s workforce and leadership, in the public and private sectors, is both a moral and economic imperative for our commonwealth,” said the bill’s sponsor Sen. Jason Lewis (D-Winchester). “In Massachusetts, women only make up 21 percent of the directors on the boards of the 100 largest public companies. Eleven of these companies have only men serving on their boards. We can and must do better to ensure that our business and civic leadership reflects the gender and racial diversity of our commonwealth.”