Mellody Hobson was appointed to chair Starbucks' board of directors, a historical move by the coffee company. (Image via Wall Street Journal)

Starbucks appoints first black woman to chair board of directors

A multinational coffee maker based in the United States (U.S), Starbucks Corporation, appointed Mellody Hobson to chair its board of directors, effective by 2020. The appointment by Starbucks made history as Hobson is the first woman of colour in Starbucks to hold the position.

Hobson's appointment was to replace Myron E. Ullman who decided to retire after holding the position since 2018. It is scheduled that Hobson will formally hold the position by March 2021. She was thrilled and honoured to hold the position at Starbucks, judging the fact that the company is transforming its business model in the last two decades.

Speaking on Thursday to CNN Business, Hobson wished that Starbucks would increase ethnic and racial diversity in its structural management. The appointment of Hobson came amid public critics toward Starbucks that it has not prioritized ethnic and racial diversity in their structural management yet.

Currently, only 16.8% of the members of Starbucks' board of directors are people of colour. The figure at least saw an increase compared to 13.6% in 2015. Starbucks once made everyone lose their minds in a racial issue involving the arrest of two black people at their shops in Philadelphia. CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson, apologized for the matter. Since then, the company vowed to strengthen diversity in their management, starting by recruiting employees of colour.

NASDAQ also proposed an idea for a regulation that will require all companies of the U.S Stock Exchange to at least hire two directors of colour, including one woman from the minority group, such as people of colour and LGBTQ, as member of the board of directors.

Meanwhile, California urged public companies to have at least one member of the board of director coming from the minority group by the end of 2021 to at least two or three members by the end of 2022.

Before taking the position, Hobson - spouse of the acclaimed director, George Lucas - is not new to the top position. She was the co-CEO of Ariel Investment LLC, an asset management firm in Chicago. Moreover, Hobson had also held the director position at JPMorgan Chase. She once chaired the board of directors of DreamWorks Animation. Not to mention, she once also directed Estee Lauder, a famous cosmetics brand headquartered in New York.

Source: https://bit.ly/3qQyXsP