Facebook has a woman problem!

Image via UltraViolet Facebook petition to Mark Zuckerberg

A few weeks ago, I blogged on the power of the petition -- it only takes a few seconds of your time to sign a petition, but the impact can be HUGE (which is why change.org has become such a hugely successful organization!). Well, this blog post is dedicated to getting your signatures on a rather interesting issue that relates to very local to global issues -- global impacts of a corporate board, and the world's most popular social networking site, Facebook.

I received an email from a friend and fellow blogger today who is upset by the fact that Facebook is going public and has formed a board on which sit 0, yes, ZERO women.

Here is what she had to say:

Sorry for the group mail, but this is an issue i care deeply about.  I've sat on 2 boards now, and i was the only female director on either of them (and these aren't small companies with 2-man boards; 1 is a UK fortune 500 company with 12+ board members; the other a music major, also with 12+ directors).  There are some women on this chain who have also sat on corporate boards, and i'm sure they could tell a similar story.

There is a real problem with corporate culture when absolutely ZERO value is placed on diversity.  I have seen firsthand how much power a corporate board wields, and I want to see a world someday where corporate actions reflect the diverse thinking / lives / consumption / etc. of a diverse world.  This includes women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, etc.  

Especially for a social networking site like FB, arguably one of the world's most influential corporations, this is entirely unacceptable.  When you have an all-star like Sheryl Sandberg working for you, or external players like Mary Meeker (THE go-to internet guru), is it really that much of a stretch to have ONE female on the board?  (Surely, we aren't all brain dead?)

Let's start with this first step.  And I firmly believe that as things progress, it will no longer be acceptable to not have women on boards, to not have people of color or gay men/women, etc etc.  And maybe I'm being naive, but I think this will in turn change the attitudes and then actions of Corporate America.

I'm writing this to brothers and sisters who recognize this is more than a "woman problem" -- it's a first step to changing a force of power that quite literally shapes the ways that you and I live our daily lives.  Please take a moment to sign, and even better -- pass it on!

-V.


HERE is a link to sign the petition to Mark Zuckerberg to put at least one woman on his board. Seriously? Do we have to do this? It is 2012 not 1950!!!

My friend blogged about this issue at the site she writes for, Qulture. Click HERE to link to her article.

Let's see how this works out...

Peace,

Nisha Namorando Vida
Founding Director
Local to Global Life Works