My Career Toolkit: Getting On a Corporate Board

Take advantage of learning and networking opportunities that may land you a seat on a corporate board.

Education, Training, and Recruitment

• Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD): Offers referrals of qualified candidates to facilitate diversity in the boardroom, and conducts research on boardroom demographic changes.
• Boardroom Bound: Seminars, coaching, and referral services to test and train individuals for corporate board readiness. Events and news releases are available on the website.
• Catalyst Corporate Board Services: Catalyst initiative to increase board diversity by advocating for gender diversity in corporate boardrooms around the globe. Provides events, an e-newsletter, and the following services:
  • Catalyst Women on Board™: Promotes the appointment of women to corporate boards by engaging CEOs and board chairs to mentor and sponsor women candidates.
  • Catalyst Corporate Board Resource: Connects leadership from organizations with open board positions to board-ready women candidates.
  • Networking, Knowledge, and Director Education Resources: List of organizations and institutions to educate and connect directors and aspiring directors, including breakdowns by industry and expertise, country and US regions.
• Directors Institute: Member-based organization offering educational and certificate programs, news, research, and networking opportunities to prospective executive directors.
• DirectWomen: Networking events, regional programs and the DirectWomen Board Institute, a two-day conference intended to position women attorneys for future corporate leadership.
• DiverseCity onBoard: Governance education program based in Canada (with online modules offered globally). Also connects qualified candidates from underrepresented groups to nonprofit organizations, public agencies, boards and commissions.
• The Executive Leadership Council (ELC): Global professional association for black leadership development. Programming includes a corporate board initiative, a women’s leadership forum, and scholarships.
• Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR): Programs for Latinx professionals interested in corporate leadership, including the Young Hispanics Corporate Achievers (YHCA) program, Corporate Directors Summit (CDS), and the HACR Leadership Pipeline Program (LPP).
• Institute of Corporate Directors (Institut des Administrateurs de Sociétés): Member-based director education institute in Canada, providing a suite of one-day courses, webinars, a national conference and fellowship awards gala, resource center, and a matching service for board candidates.
• Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP): Leadership development programs and research reports on board representation of Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs).
• OnBoard Bootcamps: Seminar on the board selection process, including tips for applying and interviewing for a board seat, as well as recent articles on corporate boards.
• Women in the Boardroom: Member-based group that builds skill sets for corporate board positions, providing speaking engagements, coaching, events, webinars, a listing of corporate board openings, news and articles.

Research and Advocacy

• 2020 Women on Boards: National campaign to increase the percentage of women on corporate boards to 20% by 2020. The website offers basic overviews of gender diversity and corporate leadership, a Women on Boards Gender Diversity Index of Fortune 1000 Companies, and ways to take action.
• Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD): Offers referrals of qualified candidates to facilitate diversity in the boardroom, and conducts research on boardroom demographic changes.
• The Boardroom Network: Member-based organization providing news, education, best practices, and recruitment solutions in corporate governance.
• Catalyst Accord: Call to action for Canadian companies to make a commitment to diversity on their corporate boards.
• Deloitte Center for Board Effectiveness: Collection of articles on current trends on board governance.
• EY Center for Board Matters: Collection of articles on corporate board issues.
• ION (InterOrganization Network): Advancing Women to the Boardroom: National consortium dedicated to increasing the representation of women in corporate boards and executive suites. The site provides research and news.