Serena Williams accepts a new challenge - in Silicon Valley

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tennis star Serena Williams has 39 Grand Slam titles, four Olympic medals, major endorsement deals and her own line of clothing and accessories.

Silicon Valley's lack of diversity has become a recurring source of embarrassment in a region that has long sought to position itself as an egalitarian place that doesn't favor one gender, ethnicity or race over another.

Diversity advocates say women and minorities add value to corporate boards — as well as companies' executive ranks — by offering new perspectives and advocating for a broader range of a company's stakeholders, whether that's customers, shareholders or employees.

In a report on France's quota requirements for corporate boards, the business research group Conference Board found that the real value of adding women came from the fact that they were more likely to be outsiders.

Williams' celebrity may help draw attention to the lack of diversity on corporate boards themselves, said Brande Stellings, vice president of corporate board services for Catalyst, a group focused on fighting for women's rights at work.

[...] African-American women occupy only 122 of the more than 5,000 board seats among Fortune 500 companies, based on Catalyst's analysis.

Like a lot of rich athletes, she is interested in becoming more involved in the business opportunities amid the high-tech boom in Silicon Valley.