Craig Arnold on racial diversity
From Intentionally focused on leadership diversity: Eaton CEO · · CNBCTelevision
“African-American representation on boards has only increased by half a point over the past 12 years, and their presence in senior leadership roles remains around 3.2%, which is largely unchanged, highlighting the slow pace of progress in diversity.”
On , Craig Arnold, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Eaton Corporation PLC, spoke about racial diversity during Intentionally focused on leadership diversity: Eaton CEO on CNBCTelevision.
About Craig Arnold
In a June 2020 appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Alley," Craig Arnold, chairman and CEO of Eaton, discussed the company's approach to leadership diversity and broader trends in corporate representation. Arnold stated that Eaton has a "long-standing commitment to inclusion and diversity," noting that 50% of its board and global leadership team are women or minorities. He attributed this progress to the company's values-based culture, which he said was established under prior leadership, and acknowledged that such changes "took time." Arnold also addressed national diversity metrics, saying that while women's board representation increased by 10 percentage points over the past 12 years, minority representation rose by only about 2 points. He described African-American board representation as having increased by only half a point over the same period, and cited a Center for Talent Innovation finding that African Americans hold roughly 3.2% of senior leadership roles, a figure he said is "largely unchanged" over a decade. Arnold noted that he was one of six African-American CEOs of large U.S. companies, a number he said had not improved since 2002, when there were seven. He concluded that "society and corporations need to do better" on racial diversity.