Duke Realty Corporation's [NYSE:DRE] newly-announced stand-alone Board Diversity Policy reflects a common sense approach to evidencing the board's commitment to increasing and maintaining board diversity inclusive of such attributes as race, ethnicity, and gender - without in any way compromising on other experiences and hard skills that ensure that all of the board's directors are technically and otherwise fully qualified for the role. Also noteworthy is the policy's expression of the benefits of diversity to the boardroom dialogue, and its acknowledgment that attaining/retaining a diverse board may require a change in, or more conscious focus on, the director recruitment and selection process to ensure a diverse candidate pool.
Here is the complete text:
Board Diversity Policy
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Duke Realty Corporation recognizes the value of nominating for election to the Board individual directors who bring a variety of diverse opinions, perspectives, skills, experiences, backgrounds and orientations to its discussions and its decision-making processes. A diverse board enables more balanced, wide-ranging discussion in the boardroom. It is also important to our shareholders, our associates and our customers.
The Board’s policy is to consider director candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds, without discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, marital and family status, gender identity, personal style, disabilities, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, veteran and active armed service status or other similar characteristics.
An overriding principle is that all nominations to the Board will be based upon merit and suitability of the candidate. Subject to this overriding principle, the Board will always have regard for the need to consider director candidates from different backgrounds, including, but not limited to, geography, race, ethnicity and gender.
In the process of searching for qualified persons to serve on the Board, the Corporate Governance Committee should strive for inclusion of diverse groups, knowledge and viewpoints. To accomplish this, the Corporate Governance Committee may retain an executive search firm to help meet the Corporate Governance Committee’s diversity objectives. The Corporate Governance Committee will also periodically review this policy and the director selection process to assess its effectiveness in promoting a diverse Board and ensuring that women and minorities are included in the selection process.
See some of our more recent prior board diversity-related reports: "Activism: Tout Your Board's Diversity to Secure Institutional Investor Support," "Prepare to Engage on & Articulate Your Board Diversity Approach," and "Field-Driven Board Diversification Strategies" here, and heaps of additional resources on our Board Diversity and Institutional Investors topical pages.