In 2016 it is Imperative that powerboat racing series and sanctioning bodies world wide do a better job at making their member base a bit more racially divers.
Repost from our December 8 2015 commentary
Looking back over the past few years I have struggled with the fact that the majority of powerboat racing sanctioning bodies are made up of middle aged older white males and the lack of Diversity and Inclusion are mind blowing in 2015. If you look at the board members of any given sanctioning body the lack of woman and young minority males is completely unacceptable. I would like to start the conversation using this post to open the floor on ways this can be changed going into 2016 and beyond. Let’s hear your thoughts and ideas on how we can make powerboat racing a more open and inviting place for both woman and minorities to compete at all levels whether it be on the race course or board rooms.
Cover photo Brent Hall out of Seattle Washington, Photo by Chris Denslow.
Lets start the conversation
*We encourage constructive debate and discussion.
Update: 6/18/20
This is a post that we originally made back in 2015 and repost in January of 2016. We thought what better time to resurrect this topic in light of world events and try to start the conversation once again. Taking a fresh look at this topic, sadly we see very little has changed since we originally made this post in 2015. On the bright side, we do love that in 2020 the current director of the American Power Boat Association is a woman but what else can be done? Maybe its time for a woman to lead the organization as president and its time for the old greyed hair white male role model to take a back seat and promote more youth to leadership. Let’s start the conversation on how the organization can be made more appealing to minorities and a younger more diverse base. Also, we are not just calling out the APBA, we are calling on all powerboat racing sanctioning bodies to look inward and see where changes can be made. That said, sports organizations around the globe are all using this time to reevaluate themselves and we feel powerboat racing series should be no different. Let’s use this moment in time to make a positive change.
Update Jan. 25 2016
Apple shareholder Antonio Avian Maldonado recently submitted a proposal for a new recruitment policy that would bring more women and racial minorities into Apple’s senior management and board of directors.
Currently, 15 out of the 18 people that make up Apple’s executive team are white men, and white men also fill five out of the eight spots on the board of directors. Out of the remaining three, two are women and one is a black man.
The board rejected the new recruitment proposal, calling it “unduly burdensome and not necessary because Apple has demonstrated to shareholders its commitment to inclusion and diversity, which are core values for our company.”
Apple does, however, implement a number of efforts towards diversity, including providing black students with scholarships when they attend historically black universities, giving iPads to underserved schools in the US and sponsoring the Grace Hopper conference for women in technology.
More news after the break
Our original article can be found here http://rbl.ms/1Zhezet
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