3M

The company founded as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company makes the list with an impressive and diverse group of directors. 3M’s board scored highly in gender equality, senior independent nonexecutive director representation, and board expertise. While recent results for the company have been impacted by supply-chain constraints and rising inflation, long-term prospects look good.  Patricia A. Woertz, former chairman and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, is one of six 3M board members (out of 13 total) to have held a CEO post. The others include Gregory R. Page (Cargill), Muhtar Kent (Coca-Cola), Herbert L. Henkel (Ingersoll-Rand), Michael L. Eskew (UPS), and David B. Dillon (Kroger). 3M CEO Michael Roman also serves as the board’s chairman. Dow CEO James R. Fitterling is the other currently active CEO on the board.  Roman has called the pandemic an “awakening” for 3M. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, Roman told Fortune in 2021, the Minneapolis-based company increased its focus on the well-being of employees and the economic health of the Twin Cities area. He said that business leaders can “use the same lessons and abilities you have built in business success and apply them more broadly to whatever is most important to your stakeholders—and that includes your employees.” The former CFOs of Microsoft and Accenture are 3M directors, as is Dambisa Moyo, former global economist at Goldman Sachs and director at Chevron and Condé Nast. 3M’s board also includes Susan Kereere, the head of global business solutions at Fiserv, and Thomas K. Brown, the former group vice president of global purchasing at Ford. These two offer the perspective of the company’s customers, an increasingly important voice to have on any corporate board.