Colorado has made significant progress opening board positions to women

What a difference a decade makes

In 2011, if you looked around the board room of Colorado public companies, you would have seen 13 men for every 1 woman. 

By 2023, it was 3 men for every 1 woman.

From Majority All-Male Boards to Vast majority including women

In 2011, 56% of Colorado public companies had all-male boards of directors. In 2023, only 10% of Colorado public companies had all-male boards.

The vast majority of Colorado public companies now include women on their boards.

25% of board positions are now held by women.

Boardbound’s research found that 25 percent of board seats at Colorado public companies were held by women as of December 31, 2023. This was a significant increase from the first study conducted in 2011 which found only 7 percent of board seats at Colorado public companies. The pace accelerated between 2017 and 2021 and has inched up since then.

Larger Colorado companies lead the way including women on their boards

Fortune 500 companies lead the way with two-thirds have three or more women on their boards.

For the first time since the “Women on Boards: State of the State” studies began in 2011, all Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in Colorado included a woman on their board in 2021. This milestone has held.

Companies smaller than the Russell 3000 have the largest proportion of all-male boards.

28% of Colorado publicly traded companies have three or more women on their boards in 2023 compared to only 2% in 2011.

Celebrate these companies who lead the way

Fifteen publicly traded companies have over 40% of their board positions held by women.

Companies are listed in rank order by highest proportion women on their boards. The top four companies listed have 50% or more women.

Summit Materials

RE/MAX Holdings

Akerna

Vail Resorts

Ball Corporation

AIR Communities

Red Robin

Newmont

Nuburu

ANGI Homeservices

Heartland Financial

DaVita

SOBRsafe

Solid Poser

Westwater Resources

Learn what proportion of each Colorado public company boards are held by women as of December 31, 2023.

More women of color have joined Colorado boards since 2021

Recent board appointments are including more women of color than in the past; however, they are still very underrepresented. Before 2021, our research only found a handful of women of color on Colorado public company boards.

In 2021, 26 women of color were newly appointed to Colorado public company boards. This meant 14% of newly appointed board directors were women of color in 2021. However, less than 5% of newly appointed board directors were women in 2023.

Colorado lags the national average for women on boards

Colorado Russell 3000 companies nearly two points below the national average

Colorado companies that are part of the Russell 3000 lags the proportion of board seats held by women for Russell 3000 companies nationwide by nearly 2 percentage points. We would like to see Colorado be a leader.

Colorado is not yet a national leader in gender board diversity

The top state of California has 7 percentage points more women on their boards than Colorado.

Smaller companies have very few women on boards and have fallen behind

Colorado Fortune 1000 companies have 31% women on their boards and Russell 3000 has 28% women on boards. Both have improved since 2021.

However, Colorado companies smaller than the Russell 3000 started out lower at 21% in 2021 and fell to 19% in 2023. Nearly forty percent of Colorado companies are smaller than Russell 3000.

Colorado has very few women executive officers

Only 16% of Named executive officer positions were held by women in 2023

Building a robust and diverse pipeline of Colorado women executive officers is critical to progress given the current low level of 16% of named executive officer positions held by women. Colorado public companies have been stalled at only 16% women NEOs since 2020.

We hope this analysis of number of women NEOs by title encourages companies to open both more executive officer positions to women.

We need more women of color, especially Latinas, on boards

This is a national study. We do not have the racial/ethnic breakdown for board directors on Colorado company boards of directors.

Investors recognize the importance of board diversity

Independent research demonstrates that when three or more women serve on a board, business profitability, productivity and workplace engagement increases. Investors, legislative mandates, and corporate America continue to make institutional decisions that reinforce the business imperative.

Boardbound by women’s Leadership Foundation helped open more board positions for women in Colorado and beyond

Our mission during our years of operation through 2023:

We inspired leaders to champion and pursue greater board diversity

CEOs for Women on Boards

State of State Report & Advocacy

We equipped women to skillfully step into board service

Corporate Boardbound & Alumnae

Nonprofit Boardbound

Latinas in the Boardroom

We connected board-ready talent to organizations eager to achieve extraordinary results

Boardconnect

Boardbound by Women’s Leadership Foundation publishes its report documenting the state of women on public company boards in Colorado. This includes information about how Colorado stacks up against other states, and it highlights companies who include women on their boards.

Here is a link to the Denver Business Journal article “Colorado public companies are behind in adding women to their boardrooms” on September 20, 2023.

Here is a link to the Denver Post article “Increase in women on boards stalls on February 26, 2023.

Click on the pictures below to get to most of the articles referenced that track progress over time.