Adena Friedman

Corporate America is facing a growing reckoning when it comes to its lack of diversity. One CEO aiming to fuel meaningful change is Adena Friedman, the president and CEO of Nasdaq. In December, Nasdaq proposed a new rule for its namesake stock exchange: Companies listed on the exchange would need to disclose their board diversity stats within a year of the rule’s approval. What’s more, most listed companies would be asked to have at least one woman and at least one individual who identifies as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+ on their boards—or else publicly explain why they do not. The SEC still has to approve the proposal, and it has already stirred up controversy on Wall Street. But Friedman’s Nasdaq would be the first major U.S. exchange with such a board diversity and transparency goal for its listed companies—another step in amping up the pressure on public companies to diversify their upper ranks.