5:30pm – 6:00pm | Reception
6:00pm – 7:00pm | Panel Discussion
Crown 190, Stanford Law School

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There are too few women and minorities on corporate boards. California’s SB 826, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, imposes financial penalties on publicly held corporations with headquarters in California if their boards have fewer than a legislatively mandated number of self-identified women directors. But will SB 826 achieve its intended effect? Will the “internal affairs” doctrine limit the law’s effect to corporations charted in California? Does the law violate federal or state equal protection guarantees? Would litigating the statute pose risks for affirmative action more generally? Are quotas necessary to increase the representation of women on boards, or will they lead to tokenism and backlash? Why has progress been so slow despite professed commitments to board diversity? What does the experience of other countries that have implemented similar legislation tell us about the impact of boardroom quotas? Are there more effective ways to increase board diversity that may not have the same potential negative consequences?

Please join the Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Center on the Legal Profession for a panel discussion on the impact of SB 826 and other efforts to increase diversity on corporate boards.

Panelists:

	Abby Adlerman CEO & Founder, Boardspan Inc. To Abby Adlerman’s full bio, click here.
	Joseph A. Grundfest W. A. Franke Professor of Law and Business, Stanford Law School Senior Faculty, Rock Center for Corporate Governance To Joseph Grundfest’s full bio, click here.
	Deborah L. Rhode Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law, Stanford Law School Director, Center on the Legal Profession To view Deborah Rhode’s full bio, click here.