Companies Need More Millennial Board Members If They Want to Stay Relevant

Millennials represent the largest generation ever, yet few of them serve on the boards of companies. This is a huge missed opportunity for companies, who perhaps haven’t yet realized the myriad ways having a young perspective can benefit both their brand and their business model.

In 2013, the median board age of S&P 500 companies was 63 years, a slight increase from previous years, according to the Spencer Stuart Board Index. In the same year, the average age of non-executive directors in FTSE 350 companies was 59.7. Starbucks, which has 33-year-old Clara Shih, CEO of Hearsay Social, on its board, is an example of the rare exception to this trend.