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Companies Want Gen Z Board Members
Welcome, youths.
A growing number of public companies are looking to add board members in their 20s.
Why It Hits: Historically, boards have been reserved for more senior leaders, not people early in their careers. In the US, the average board member is just over 63 years old. By seeking out younger members, companies are signaling a need for fresh perspectives in a constantly evolving business environment.
Behind The Role: According to the Russell index of the 3,000 largest public companies, only 11 of more than 26,000 board seats are currently held by 20-somethings.
But that’s likely to change soon.
Most of the 20-somethings currently serving on boards are at AI and fintech startups, which makes sense given the general employee makeup of those industries.
But some organizations — including snack-maker BranchOut Food, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York Classical Theatre, and beverage-and-crypto company Bonk — have recently added people in their 20s to their boards, sometimes straight out of college.
Board-recruiting organization BoardAssist says half of its clients are now looking for 20-something candidates, citing their fluency with new technology, cultural awareness, and messaging savvy as key reasons.
Or, as BranchOut CEO Eric Healy put it: “There’s this new class of young retail investors on Robinhood, on all these apps. It takes somebody younger that has a pulse on all of that.”
Final Interview: Sitting on a board is a major flex for someone in their 20s. It comes with a stipend comparable to a part-time job, extensive networking opportunities, and a leadership role that can provide a significant career boost. It’s the kind of corporate influence that was largely unavailable to young people just a decade ago.
Who needs an entry-level job when you can start at the top of the corporate ladder?
The Future: It’s only a matter of time before a Fortune 500 company installs a Gen Zer on its board. Our guess is that Silicon Valley will lead the way there.
Together with Perplexity Computer
Perplexity Computer Crafts Your Dream Project
Have an idea for a project in your head but aren’t sure how to execute it?
Perplexity Computer is now available to do the heavy lifting for you. All you need to do is provide the prompt.
So, we at TheFutureParty decided to put it to the test:
The prompt: “Make a website of the five top-performing posts from TheFutureParty newsletter written in the past three years. Include images, dates, and engagement data.”
Perplexity Computer then ran the data, walked through its thought process, and built the site in real time. All that was left to do was kick back and relax.
Along the way, it asked a few multiple-choice questions to refine the output. It was easier than deciding what snack to eat while waiting.
In about five minutes, the site was ready for launch. All that remained was setting the permissions.
You can view the finished site right here. Incredible what you can do with a sentence and just 10 minutes.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.