Sharon Bowen: First Black Woman To Chair New York Stock Exchange Board

By ShaCamree Gowdy Published: December 21, 2021

Sharon Bowen: First Black Woman To Chair New York Stock Exchange Board

Sharon Bowen has been named the first Black woman to chair the New York Stock Exchange Board. // Photo Source: US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

In Summary

Sharon Y. Bowen has made history as the first Black woman to chair the New York Stock Exchange Board.

Sharon Bowen’s appointment as the first Black woman to lead the New York Stock Exchange Board caps off a historic year for women in politics across the state.

Face2face Africa reported Bowen began her 40-year legal career at Davis Polk & Wardwell before joining Latham & Watkins as a partner and co-chairing the Diversity Committee and Diversity Hiring Subcommittee. Bowen also led the firm’s Women Enriching Business Task Force, which aims to expand women’s business networks and contacts.

The awesome profile of Sharon Bowen, who is now the first Black woman to chair the NYSE board. > https://t.co/BGClOhUiS7 #F2FA #africa #panafrican #diaspora pic.twitter.com/az0OIGFGjS
— Face2face Africa (@Face2faceAFRICA) December 15, 2021

Bowen is considered one of America’s top Black lawyers and has a long history of pro bono, educational, multicultural and civic involvement. Her experience includes advising major global corporations and financial institutions on business, finance and securities transactions—and she has remained adamant about promoting diversity along the way.

“Why is diversity important? Think about it: who is buying and driving the demand for commodities? Surely, these consumers are not homogenous. So how can we achieve real growth and economic opportunity without women and minorities at the table?” Bowen said, per Face2face Africa. “Promoting diversity should not be treated as a nice addition to your substantive work, but as an essential part of it.”

Bowen is no stranger to making history, being appointed under President Barack Obama as the first African American Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2014. She served until 2017.

The New York Stock Exchange, according to Investopedia, has been in operation since 1792 and is the world’s largest stock exchange. It’s estimated to be $26.64 trillion as of August 2021, with an average of 2.4 billion shares exchanged each day.

This year marked a year of firsts for women in New York, as Kathy Hochul became the state’s first female governor. Andrea Stewart-Cousins also became the first Black woman to serve as the lieutenant governor. Keechant Sewell is the first woman in its 176-year history to lead the New York Police Department as commissioner.