Midwest Investors Diversity Initiative
About
The Midwest Investors Diversity Initiative (MIDI) is a coalition of Midwest-based institutional investors dedicated to increasing racial, ethnic, and gender diversity on corporate boards, given the correlation between diversity and long-term outperformance.
With over $1 trillion in assets under management and advisement, the coalition uses corporate engagements and shareholder rights to protect shareholder value and maximize returns.
How MIDI Supports Better Board Diversity and Governance
The Midwest Investors Diversity Initiative (MIDI) gives companies practical tools and guidance to strengthen board diversity, board composition, and long-term performance. By working with nominating and governance committees, MIDI encourages companies to improve their processes for identifying, evaluating, and selecting board candidates.
MIDI supports companies by encouraging them to:
- require third-party search firms to include a broad candidate pool from the start
- expand the pipeline by considering qualified candidates from nontraditional sources
- publicly disclose board diversity each year through a board matrix that includes director gender and race or ethnicity
Since 2016, MIDI has engaged 97 companies on board diversity. As a result of those efforts, 162 women and people of color have been appointed to corporate boards, including 123 women, 83 people of color, and 47 women of color. In addition, 66 companies now publicly disclose board diversity data.
MIDI relies solely on the capacity and expertise of its members and receives no external financial support.
A 2023 McKinsey report found that companies with higher levels of diverse representation on executive teams have a higher likelihood to outperform peers, by as much as 39 percent in
terms of profitability, bolstering results found in similar studies from 2020, 2018, and 2015. In addition, a recent study of more than 4,000 North American companies demonstrated that
board gender diversity increases board effectiveness and is tied to better financial performance.
Members
- Ariel Investments
- City of Chicago’s Treasurer’s Office
- Illinois State Board of Investment
- Illinois State Treasurer’s Office
- Legal and General Investment Management
- Minnesota State Board of Investment
- Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
- Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation School Employees
- School Employees Retirement System of Ohio
- SEIU Master Trust
- Segal Marco Advisors
- Seventh Generation Interfaith
- Trinity Health
- UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
- Wespath Benefits and Investments
Resources and Additional Information
Press Releases
“We know that diversity is good for business. We also know that change is hard, especially inside our nation’s boardrooms. Many corporate leaders agree that diversity benefits their operations and board performance. Our focus is to help them navigate this change.”
Michael Frerichs
Illinois State Treasurer
Advance Boardroom Change Through the Midwest Investors Initiative
Should you have any questions or inquiries, please contact the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office at MWVD@illinoistreasurer.gov.
Help us support this initiative by using our Board Diversity and Disclosure Company Toolkit