Supporting the Nasdaq Board Diversity Proposal

Re: File Number SR-NASDAQ2020-081 (Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Adopt Listing Rules Related to Board Diversity) We are writing to comment in support of Nasdaq's proposal related to board diversity (Proposal). The Proposal would do this by requiring disclosure based on the same categories companies already use to report workforce diversity data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the EEO-1 Report. [...]directors would not be required to provide companies with information about their diversity attributes, and for directors who choose not to selfidentify as members of a qualifying group, companies could respect their privacy and note their status as "undisclosed." For years now, boards have increasingly realized that diversity of relevant experience is critical to success in a fast-changing global world. [...]boards have increasingly realized that focusing their search on candidates who have CEO experience, most of whom have been male and not diverse, is not adequate. Increasingly, the most effective boards we have seen have recruited individuals with backgrounds in critically important fields such as science and technology, cybersecurity, risk management and government service, reaching out to candidates who occupy or have held relevant senior non-CEO corporate, academic or government positions and who are more likely than the current or former CEO candidates previously sought to be diverse in their gender, ethnic or other identities. 3.The Proposal is consistent with the historical role of the stock exchanges in advancing the quality of corporate governance.