Nate Emeritz is Of Counsel at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. This post was prepared with the assistance and insights of Amy Simmerman, Ryan Greecher, Lisa Stimmell, and Jose Macias. This post is part of the Delaware law series; links to other posts in the series are available here.
Gender diversity in the corporate boardroom is receiving significant belated attention. Much of that attention has revolved around prescriptive legislation, academic research, and business results—and one point of focus is an increase in the number of female directors. This article, however, outlines options under Delaware corporate law for jumpstarting an increase in the influence of female directors on board decision making—i.e., female board power. [1] That is, while female board perspectives may remain outnumbered at least in the near term, these corporate mechanisms may leverage existing female board power to prevent the female board perspective from being outweighed. In footnotes to this article, there are illustrative form provisions related to these concepts of Delaware corporate law. [2]
