Shortly after inviting a historic 774 new members to join its ranks, the Academy held its annual board of governors election and, per The Hollywood Reporter, women were elected in “unprecedented” numbers. Twenty-one of the 54 board members are female, or approximately 39 percent. This is a significant change from last year’s election, which saw women representing 31 percent of the board’s seats. The 2015–2016 board was 33 percent female.
Among the board’s first-time members are Whoopi Goldberg and “Boys Don’t Cry” director Kimberly Peirce. Overall, 10 of the 17 seats up for election went to newcomers — people who have never served on the board before. Participant Media exec vp/former Academy CMO Christina Kounelias, cinematographer Mandy Walker (“Hidden Figures”), costume designer Isis Mussenden (“Masters of Sex”), and sound editor Teri E. Dorman (“La La Land”) were also elected for the first time.
Women re-elected to the board of governors include casting director Lora Kennedy (“Wonder Woman”), editor Kate Amend (“The Keepers”), and makeup artist/hairstylist Kathryn L. Blondell (“Snatched”).
“The Academy is divided into 17 branches, each of which is represented with three seats on the board; there also are three seats on the board for governors who are appointed by the president, for an unspecified period of time, to represent the interests of diversity,” THR writes of the election process. “All but the diversity governors are elected to three-year terms, which are staggered so that only one seat from each branch is subject to election in any given year. Each governor is chosen through a vote by the rank-and-file members of the applicable branch after they have winnowed down a field of interested candidates to a number no greater than four.”
Exiting Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs’ seat went to Kounelias. Boone Isaacs is retiring from the board after about 25 years and will finish up her fourth and final term as prez this summer. The Academy’s next president will be chosen at the new board’s first meeting in July. Boone Isaacs became the first woman of color to serve as Academy President back in 2013.
Under Boone Isaacs’ leadership the Academy has sought to increase the number of women and people of color among its membership. The historic 39 percent female board of governors — the Academy’s leaders — is one of the results of her work over the past four years, and marks her legacy. It could also signify a continued fight for diversity and inclusivity after Boone Isaacs steps down.
