business

The Democratic presidential nomination contest has many voters excited about the fact that a woman, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, or an African-American man, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, could become the next president of the United States. It also shows the great progress that women and minorities have made in positions of power in this country.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is the speaker of the House of Representatives, Condoleeza Rice is secretary of state, Deval Patrick, an African-American, is the newly elected governor of Massachusetts and Bobby Jindal, an Indian-American, is the newly elected governor of Louisiana.

One would think that America is finally recognizing that everyone, including minorities and women, have the ability and the desire to step into significant leadership positions.

I often talk about the huge demographic shifts that have taken place and will continue to take place in our country. It is very obvious that America has become a more diverse country, yet this trend does not appear to be reflected in the top ranks of corporate America.

Three African-American CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have lost their jobs in the past six months.

Aylwin Lewis, the CEO of Sears, was fired this month for dismal sales and profit performance.

Stan O'Neal, the CEO of Merrill Lynch, left in October because Merrill got caught up in the subprime mortgage debacle and he at first downplayed the magnitude of the potential losses, which amounted to $8 billion. O'Neal also tried to negotiate a merger without first notifying his board.

Richard Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, relinquished his CEO title to become chairman of the board of directors of Time in October. It is rumored that he will leave the company this year.

All three men produced poor top-line and bottom-line performance, which was reflected in sluggish stock performances. So the issue is job execution, rather than race.

But their departures leave only three African-American CEOs running Fortune 500 companies: Ken Chenault of American Express, Ronald Williams of Aetna, and Clarence Otis of Darden Restaurants.

Women at the CEO level are not doing much better than their male African-American counterparts. When Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay, retired in January, there were only 12 women CEOs among the Fortune 500.

Boards of directors need to challenge themselves to make sure that the future leaders of their companies truly represent the populations who consume their goods and services. If they fail to do this they will potentially risk a decline in shareholder value as women and people of color look to support companies that recognize their value and their voice.