Urban Outfitters adds 10th board member in response to criticism over lack of diversity

By

Emily Jensen

Published
Aug 25, 2017

Following criticism over its lack of diversity in its leadership, Urban Outfitters has expanded its board from nine to ten members with the addition of Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.

 
Cassidy joins Urban Outfitters after stints at Polyvore, Joyus, Google and Amazon. The executive also founded Boardlist, which attempts to bring more women into tech industry boardrooms.
 
Cassidy is the third woman currently serving on Urban Outfitters’ board, alongside Elizabeth Ann Lambert, the founder and principal of Bunkhouse Management Group LLC, and Margaret Hayne, wife of the company’s founder and CEO Richard Hayne. Hayne also serves as CEO of Urban Outfitters’ Free People brand.

In May of this year, Washington, D.C.-based investment group CtW criticized the company for the lack of diversity on its board. The company took issue with Urban Outfitters’ lacking a single person of color on its nine-person board, which included just two women, one of whom is married to the CEO. CtW blamed the board’s incompetence and insularity for the retailer’s struggling sales.  
 
Urban Outfitters however blamed a difficult retail market as a whole rather than a lack of diversity for the company’s troubles.
 
Cassidy’s addition to the board caused the retailer’s stock to jump 6.8 percent to $21.36.