Board of Directors: Historically Marginalized (OI6696)

This metric is intended to capture representation by people from groups historically marginalized on the basis of race and/or ethnicity on the organization’s board of directors. A board of directors is a group of individuals legally responsible to govern a corporation and responsible to the shareholders and other relevant stakeholders. A governing body with a different name (e.g., "advisory body") may be considered a Board of Directors provided it has a fiduciary and/or social responsibility to shareholders and/or other relevant stakeholders.

The categorization of historically marginalized groups varies with location and context. With no internationally agreed-upon definition as to which groups constitute historically marginalized on the basis of race and/or ethnicity, if well-established local policies exist (as in South Africa, with the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment [BBBEE] definition of historically marginalized, or in India, based on backward caste), organizations should refer to these local guidelines to identify groups historically marginalized on the basis of race and/or ethnicity. Otherwise, and wherever appropriate, organizations should provide additional detail regarding their tailored methodology for defining these groups.

This metric is multi-dimensional with regard to the five dimensions of impact. It may help describe the WHO dimension when the stakeholder group represented by the metric is the stakeholder group targeted by the investment or organization. It may also help measure the HOW MUCH Scale dimension, which helps estimate the number of the targeted stakeholders experiencing the outcome. For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.