This week, Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) submitted additional comments to the SEC regarding Nasdaq’s proposed rule on board diversity. Disability:IN Board Chair Chad Jerdee and AAPD Board Chair Ted Kennedy, Jr. wrote in part, “it is important to remember that disability inclusion matters to investors… Requiring companies to disclose the number of board members with disabilities as part of the Nasdaq rule would be in line with the SEC’s mission to protect investors and ensure fair, uniform and transparent disclosures to investors so that they can make informed investment decisions.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights submitted comments to the SEC noting, “We need to utilize every mechanism at our disposal to help ensure more diverse and inclusive workplaces. As other commenters have said, disability does not discriminate – and we are all better off when we see people with disabilities thriving in corporate boardrooms and all other aspects of work and life.”
A group of diversity organizations including, NGLCC, NaVOBA, USBC, USHCC, USPAACC, WIPP, and Out & Equal weighed in as well, saying “Omitting disability in this rule is an enormous, missed opportunity to ensure corporate leadership reflects the diversity of our nation itself at a time when the imperative for doing so has never been more urgent.”
