Dec. 18, 2020
Dear SEC, I am writing in support of SR-NASDAQ-2020-081 to advance board diversity and enhance transparency of diversity statistics through new proposed listing requirements. I am an anti-bias researcher and consultant with a background in anthropology. So I spend a lot of time thinking and analyzing workplace culture, fairness, and America's history of bias and bad behavior (which was often perfectly legal). People of color, women, and LGBTQ indiviuals have been unfairly excluded from economic opportunities for far too long. The lack of representation of Nasdaq company boards has implications for tech innovation, which is overwhelmingly powered by white men and often negatively impacts populations that are underrepresented in the workforce. For example, facial recognition software misidentifies people with dark skin, which has resulted in misidentifying law-abiding citizens as criminals and human beings with dark skin as gorillas. The first version of an app designed to track health conditions did not include health factors experienced by women, such as tracking menstrual cycles. Social media ads have supported housing discrimination by enabling posters to hide ads from certain populations. These and other concerns that adversely impact marginalized communities could have been identified during the development process with a more diverse team. I believe that greater representation on corporate boards will better position companies to develop a more diverse workforce, which will help avert these issues in the future. Therefore, I implore you to adopt SR-NASDAQ-2020-08 to advance board diversity and enhance transparency of diversity statistics through new proposed listing requirements. Sincerely, Suzanne Wertheim ---------------------------------------------------------- Suzanne Wertheim, Ph.D. (She/her) Founder and CEO Worthwhile Research & Consulting