A growing number of companies, including Tyson, Republic Services, Foot Locker, and Best Buy, are eschewing traditional board candidates—retired chief executive officers, who are overwhelmingly older white men—and opting for diverse members, many of them first-timers with no experience.In 2017, 45 percent of appointees to the boards of S&P 500 companies were novice directors, the most since recruiter Spencer Stuart started keeping tabs in 2006. Last year also was the first time a majority of the incoming directors were women or minority candidates. “Two years ago, they would have said, ‘Oh, it would be great to have diversity, but we really want a CEO,’ ” says Julie Daum, who leads Spencer Stuart’s North American board practice. “Now it feels like the female will occasionally beat out the CEO.”

Source: Corporate Boards Are Looking for CEOs Who Aren’t Old White Men – Bloomberg