Double glass ceiling: Women of colour underrepresented on Toronto boards

Towa Beer’s resume is sprinkled with names that would make most people envious.

The Toronto woman has nabbed jobs with provincial government ministries and agencies along with multi-million dollar charities like the Heart and Stroke Foundation. She’s run her own businesses, fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars and counted Nike, Mercedes Benz, basketball star Steve Nash and famed songstress Alicia Keys among her clients.

But even after decades of high-profile experience in the arts and social entrepreneurship, the one thing Beer has had trouble landing is a seat in the boardroom.

“Every board I look at is full of men,” says Beer, who only once held a board spot years ago. “Not only do I have to prove that I am valuable as a female but as a person of colour.”

She’s not alone. With women occupying only a fraction — less than 30 per cent overall according to a Metro analysis — of corporate and municipal board seats across the GTA, minority women are even harder to spot among the faces at decision-making tables.

“When you map diversity in places of power and privilege in the city, the picture is not that pretty,” says Sen. Ratna Omidvar. “The barriers that apply to women apply to minority women, but there is a double glass ceiling for minority women.”

Read the full article on Metro’s website.