An Open Letter to President-Elect Trump: Diversify Your Cabinet to Make America “Great Again”
Dear President-Elect Trump,
As we move past campaigning to governance, I noticed that your potential cabinet lacks diversity.
I am not a politician or policy wonk, so I cannot guide you on how to create the best cabinet. However, I do know how diversity can improve your cabinet. I understand you have many things to consider in the next 90 days, and that you are a businessman first and foremost, so let me put it to you in business terms:
- In the US, over a 10-year period, the top 50 companies for diversity outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by 25.8% and the NASDAQ by 28%.
- An American Sociological Association study found that every 1% rise in gender and ethnic diversity results in a 3–9% rise in the sales revenue.
- Research shows that companies with high executive and board diversity had returns on equity that were on average 53% higher than those with low levels of diversity.
Deny Women A Place in Your Cabinet At Your Peril
I know you’ve faced many tough questions about your view on women. You’ll be challenged further on this issue on your first day in office due to the Women’s March on Washington. Mass march aside, I encourage you to widen your view on women based on the following statistics: Women-owned businesses are the future of the U.S. Between 1997 and 2014, the total number of businesses in the United States increased by 47%, but the number of women-owned firms increased by 68% — a rate 1 ½ times the national average. Women in the U.S own more than 9.4 million firms, and generated 41.5 trillion in sales as of 2015. It is a mistake to underestimate women, who have as many undergraduate degrees as men and hold 50% more graduate degrees than men. While I’m sure your potential cabinet leaders are qualified, I would especially like to point out the business impact of having women at this high-level:
- A study by Kramer, Konrad and Erkut’s shows that a critical mass of three or more women can cause a fundamental change in the boardroom and enhance corporate governance.
- Even one woman makes a significant impact. Credit Suisse looked at 2,400 global corporations over eight years and found that large-cap companies with at least one woman on their boards outperformed comparable companies with all-male boards by 26 percent.
- Catalyst found that Fortune 500 companies with women on their boards had significantly higher returns on equity (53%), better sales (42%), and a two-thirds greater ROI than companies with all-male boards.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Another reason it’s important to think about diversity is your new hometown. White people are the minority (40.6%) in Washington DC, which has a diverse population that is 46% black, 10.4% Hispanic or Latino and 3% Asian. So bringing in more diverse cabinet members may help you get along with your new neighbors.
The Global Economy is Important. And Diverse.
Finally, the last reason it’s important to have a more diverse cabinet is the global economy. For example, immigration is soon to be Canada’s only source of population growth and up to 30% of the UK’s population will be from ethnic minorities by 2030. In the US, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 91.7% of our nation’s population growth over the past decade. So as you can see, having a more diverse cabinet will help you get along with your international neighbors too.
Sir, this country has been torn apart. Yes, you won the election by virtue of the electoral college. And Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. We need a president who can bridge the gap and bring people together. Creating a more diverse cabinet will help you do this. Diversity is not a liberal “nice to have”. Increasing the diversity of your cabinet members will enhance your governing capacity. In addition, it will help make you, and this fractured country, “great again.”
Sincerely,
Anne
For more information about diversity at work, including how to manage your own unconscious bias, check out: Diversity in the Workforce: Summer Roundup.
