David Grain has been in business for 40 years since graduating college. He got interested in serving on corporate boards early in his career when he saw African American business and law leaders joining boards, recognizing the value of participating in corporate America’s capital formation. However, his path to his first board was untraditional – rather than being a CEO or senior executive, he was running his own entrepreneurial firm after time on Wall Street. Through networking and relationships, he landed on the radar of executive search firms focused on board diversity.
Ultimately, through a search process, he joined the board of Southern Company, a major electric utility. He prepared extensively to understand the industry and was seen as bringing relevant yet differentiated telecom experience. Over 13 years on Southern’s board, Grain has climbed the learning curve in board service, first listening and asking careful questions, then better understanding boardroom dynamics and perspectives.
A key realization was that good ideas can arise from unexpected people and places on a board. He sees intellectual stimulation as the primary driver for board service now rather than validation. He has served as Lead Director, helping guide CEO succession including the appointment of an African American CEO.
Overall he believes board diversity brings fuller information, faster identification of risks and opportunities – critical perspectives for an investor stewarding capital. While Grain sees increased Black board representation ahead based on recognition of why diversity matters, he also emphasizes entrepreneurship as an empowering path for wealth creation and self-determination, freed from the unilateral power structures of corporate hierarchies. He discusses his passion for supporting the Martha’s Vineyard Museum to codify and tell the rich, century-spanning stories of African Americans on the island, stories that risk being erased from histories.
