As millennials age into their mid-thirties and climb the corporate ladder, many companies are finding it more and more valuable — even necessary — to include millennials on their boards.

Millennials bring a myriad of influential perspectives — including the ability to bridge the technology literacy gap, since a reported 96 percent of American millennials are digital natives. Millennials are also more in tune with digital culture and technology adoption rates at large, and will soon make up the majority of the workforce — meaning they know their peers, who are quickly becoming the most powerful consumer demographic, better than anyone.

Companies also need more millennial board members if they want to stay relevant, argues Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa, managing partner at Hoja Law Group, who herself was appointed to the board of the Amistad Commission at age 28. “Building a strong crop of future leaders is a clear win for the corporate world, but there are civic considerations as well,” Musiitwa says. A 2014 study by Deloitte showed that 63 percent of millennials donate to charities and 43 percent actively volunteer or are members of a community organization or nonprofit.

In terms of spending power, millennials also have more liquidity for investing due to their overwhelming generational distrust of banks and financial institutions. According to the Brookings Institute, investors aged 21 to 36 have, on average, 52 percent of their savings in cash, compared to 23 percent for other age groups. Millennials also have the innate ability to build communities around shared interests rather than geographical proximity, bridging otherwise disparate groups — especially on social media.

Corporate boards — often elderly white males — lacking generational and other diversity factors also run the risk of creating too large a disconnect between the average board member and the demographics of potential loyal customers. Millennials are the missing perspective in the boardroom, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Surveys have found little to no generational diversity in the boardroom,” the WSJ article points out. “So-called younger directors on boards tend to be over 50, and on many boards retirement age is approaching 75. As a result, the voice and perspective of younger generations — a demographic group estimated at 77 million in the U.S. alone — are often missing. That gap poses a risk for nearly every business and industry.”

Unfortunately, few companies are making a special effort to attract millennials or achieve board diversity targets, according to a CFO survey conducted by Duke Fuqua. Recently, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola have seen the consequences of this firsthand, as both companies lack millennials on their boards (or in top leadership positions) and now have to scramble to connect with millennial consumers. Analysts and investors say today’s customers aren’t buying what McDonald’s and Coke traditionally sold, and the companies are finding it hard to set a new course quickly. McDonald’s recently announced it will be closing 700 stores worldwide this year. Diet Coke, once one of the company’s most reliable moneymakers, saw global demand fall 6 percent in the past year.

Offering young people the chance to be on a board not only benefits corporations, it can also position millennial individuals to become better leaders later in life. One of the best ways for millennials to establish a career is to seek out a position on a corporate board. With a growing demand for both women and millennials on corporate (and nonprofit) boards, the time to act is now, Forbes argues, with tips on how to reap the benefits of board membership sooner rather than later.