California law requires public companies to have at least 1 female on their board of directors | Here’s how San Diego companies are doing – CBS News 8

SAN DIEGO — California requires every public company to have at least one female on its board of directors. 50/50 Women on Boards found that 40% of California companies still need to add women. 

Political Reporter Morgan Rynor looked into the 10 largest public companies in San Diego and found that every single one of them has at least one female board member.

In a few weeks though, the number of women required on a board will go up, and not every company is prepared. 

50/50 Women on Boards is the largest global campaign to increase diversity on boards of directors. They track progress as well. 

“Women are often more open to taking risks,” COO Heather Spilsbury said. “And when you do have women on your board, you add profitability and productivity.”

“For California specifically, what we have noticed is that since 2017, and since the law was enacted, the rate of change for how women are joining corporate boards has increased dramatically,” Spilsbury said. 

Based on a 2018 law, boards need to have up to three women by January and could face heavy fines for not doing so.

These are the 10 largest public companies based in San Diego according to the San Diego Business Journal:

Seven out of 10 of them are already meeting the upcoming standards. Dexcom, Viasat, and Acadia are not. 

“Our company develops technologies that allow the exploration of DNA,” said Illumina CCO Susan Tousi.

“I think when you seek to have the best talent, you end up with diversity,” Tousi said. 

Illumina’s board was made up of different genders, races, and ethnicities before the law was passed. 

“I think it’s a shame that we’re still at a point where 40% of companies in California don’t have females on their board,” Tousi said. 

David Pendarvis is the Chief Administrative Officer at ResMed.

“Resdmed is a medical device company,” Pendarvis said. “So we make equipment to treat sleep apnea.”

His company’s board of directors has been diverse for years, but he understands why it’s taking other companies longer.

“We’d rather see things evolve voluntarily,” he said. “I think these laws come from a good position because people are impatient for change, but ultimately, these trends are out there.”

Rynor  reached out to the three companies that still need to add one more female in the coming weeks. An Acadia Corporate spokesperson said:

“Representation is important to Acadia and its Board of Directors and we are actively implementing plans to diversify our board, however, we will not meet the California Female Directors requirements in 2021. It’s our goal to achieve this in 2022.”

It’s important to note that this law is being challenged in court right now. Judicial Watch sued the State of California, claiming the law discriminates based on sex. Some companies may be waiting to see what the outcome is before adding another board member. 

The Associated Press reports that not a single fine has been handed out to a company for not having at least one female on its board, and during the ongoing trial, the state trial said there are no plans to do so. 

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