Methodology for Fortune Modern Board 25 (2023)

To select the Modern Board 25, Fortune developed a ranking system in collaboration with Diligent, a SaaS solution provider across governance, risk, compliance, audit, and ESG. These rankings are based on criteria that include expertise and independence of board members; diversity on the board, including gender, age, and nationality; the tenure of independent directors; financial performance; and vulnerability to activism.

In assigning scores to those criteria, we relied on corporate governance data aggregated from company reports and public filings by Diligent. We also included Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scoring, relying on that data to judge whether boards had the forward-leaning mentality needed to thrive in a rapidly changing business climate.

The 25 companies listed each ranked in the top quartile of the S&P 500 for both board effectiveness/vulnerability and ESG, by our measurements, and the company ranking determined by Fortune reflects the highest combined scores for both.