Deborah Wright grew up in the South and moved to New York City for college, staying for Business and Law School at Harvard. She entered city government after some time in the private sector, encountering challenges fitting in initially. She fell in love with New York while running the New York Partnership under David Rockefeller, later becoming Housing Commissioner and running Carver Federal Savings Bank for over a decade.
Regarding corporate boards, Wright credits mentors like Dick Parsons for helping her get appointed. She advises listening first when joining a board, building relationships over dinners, focusing on your expertise while doing homework to expand knowledge. Wright believes boards benefit from diversity but acknowledges a gap remains between the rhetoric and reality of inclusion.
Wright prioritized corporate strategy in the boardroom over her banking/audit background. She pulled executives aside privately when needing to convey difficult feedback. Wright believes business relationships rarely extend deeply beyond boards. She suggests starting on the audit committee to quickly get up to speed on company operations. Wright acknowledges codes limiting full candor in boardrooms, instead employing respect and care to earn credibility.
She faults CEOs more than search firms for minimal board diversity but sees investor and regulatory pressure as essential levers, though frustrated past fervor hasn’t catalyzed faster change. While valuing board tenure, Wright prefers expanding board size over instituting term limits. She implores aspiring directors to have dinner with disagreeable members, share learnings with community, and above all enjoy the ride.
