New Report Highlights Key Shifts in Corporate Governance and Board Leadership.
Corporate governance is undergoing a transformation, and the 2025 edition of the Weight of America’s Boards report from JamesDruryPartners, a leading professional advisory firm specializing in corporate board governance and business leadership, offers a crucial analysis of these changes. The annual study provides a comprehensive ranking of the governance strength of America’s largest corporate boards, shedding light on emerging trends, evolving leadership dynamics, and the increasing importance of business acumen in board composition.
This year’s findings underscore the growing complexities facing corporate boards. The study analyzed more than 6,000 board directors across over 650 companies, assessing governance capacity through an objective measure known as Average Director Weight (ADW). While the report recognizes the steady rise in board diversity, it also highlights a concerning decline in governance strength, with ADW falling 3% since 2022. This downward trend is attributed in part to a shrinking number of active CEOs serving on outside boards, as well as a lack of financial expertise among directors.
Speaking to the Lady World Press, James Drury III, Chairman and CEO of JamesDruryPartners, emphasized the significance of these findings: “Amid the growing complexity of issues confronting corporate boards, this report provides an objective assessment of governance capacity, enabling companies, and their boards, to benchmark their governance excellence and navigate today’s challenges with confidence. This year’s findings underscore the critical need for directors to possess the business acumen necessary to effectively oversee and guide America’s leading corporations through an increasingly unstable global environment, macroeconomic uncertainty, technological transformation, and growing regulatory demands.”
Among the top-ranked corporations for governance strength, Arrow Electronics, Parker Hannifin, and Starbucks emerged as industry leaders, demonstrating a robust commitment to strategic oversight. Rounding out the top 10 companies with the highest ADW are Honeywell International, The Home Depot, Uber Technologies, PPG Industries, Waste Management, Commercial Metals and The Mosaic Company. These corporations have boards composed of seasoned executives with deep business acumen.
Despite the positive strides in board diversity—female directors now hold nearly 36% of board seats, an 89% increase since 2011—the report notes that women remain underrepresented in executive leadership roles, occupying only 29% of senior management positions. This disparity raises critical questions about the pipeline for future board leadership and the role of executive experience in governance capacity.
As corporate oversight continues to evolve, The Weight of America’s Boards remains an essential resource for understanding governance trends and board effectiveness. The findings aim to help companies reflect on the composition of their board and ways to build a stronger governance capacity, especially in an unpredictable business environment.
Lady World Press 