Securing a first seat on a corporate board can feel like climbing a mountain. Competition is fierce, and the search process can be opaque, often favoring certain groups (white men who are current or former CEOs) and excluding others (women, people of color, and other executives who bring a different set of professional experiences).
This pattern perpetuates the status quo, especially when current directors continue to draw candidates solely from their own networks. As a result, the barrier to entry remains high for those who don't fit the traditional mold or lack access to these circles.
A whole crop of diverse networking groups such as Harvard Business School’s Board Diversity Network has sprung up to help.
“It has created an opportunity for executive talent to get smart about governance, get smart about committee assignments, get smart about the board selection process,” said Tierney Remick, vice chairman and co-leader of Korn Ferry’s Global Board and CEO Practice.
These networking groups serve numerous purposes:
● connecting candidates with companies and search firms that are filling their board pipelines, through events including “speed-dating” gatherings
● training potential board members, especially those seeking a first board seat, how to get on boards and how to serve effectively
● offering training that provides credentials, which help women and others from underrepresented groups to gain confidence and stand out.
● offering candidates a chance to meet others who share the same gender, race, ethnicity, or other identities
One example is Women Executives on Boards, an outgrowth of Harvard Business School’s Women on Boards executive education program. The first cohort of women who went through the program saw value in staying in touch and helping each other find board positions. The group has broadened to a range of women who have completed governance programs at Harvard Business School, said Colleen Ammerman, director of HBS’s Race, Gender & Equity Initiative.
“These folks already possess the necessary expertise to excel as board members. The Women on Boards program asks, how can we train them to effectively present and articulate their skills, and help them understand the entire process?” Ammerman said.
Help for both board candidates and companies seeking board members
Roberta Sydney, a Boston-based independent director, for example, says programs such as these assisted her in navigating the process of securing a board seat and being effective. She learned from networking with people who were further along in the board search process and she earned certificates that bolstered both her credibility as a candidate and her knowledge of how to serve effectively.
In addition to education, the networking groups also help companies that are searching for potential members to tap into a more diverse group.
The Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors isn’t yet at a place where companies are actively seeking out directors with diverse sexual orientation, says executive director Fabrice Houdart. But the group does work with search firms looking for diversity, and it offers dinners and other networking events that help executives raise their visibility as potential board members. Because LGBTQ+ executives are underrepresented on boards, they are less likely to know people in a position to connect them to board seats, Houdart pointed out. “If you vacation in Provincetown rather than Martha’s Vineyard, you are less likely to meet someone on the board,” he said, by way of example.
The Latino Corporate Directors Association offers exposure to a range of influential connections through its Board Ready Institute, which has separate training for potential board members and for those new in their seats. The partners and faculty for the programs include search firms, companies, academic leaders, and others in a position to influence board selections. Monique Navarro of LCDA said executives going through the program get coaching on their efforts and training in topics such as corporate governance.
LCDA also provides lists of qualified candidates to companies and others looking for talent and offers a directory they can search to narrow down to candidates from certain demographics, industries, and sectors.
A way to diversify networks
Cynthia Soledad, global head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practice at Egon Zehnder, said the networking groups and other parts of the board selection ecosystem — such as search firms — can help companies expand beyond their own, often predominantly white and male, networks.
“When you do that, you can see that there are Black executives, female executives, Asian executives, Latino executives who bring incredible functional and executive expertise,” Soledad said.
The various networking groups also help executives reaching for a board seat to tap into each other’s connections.
“It's very powerful for folks who, in their day-to-day professional experience, tend to be in the minority, to be around people who share a really salient identity,” Ammerman said. The networks are a “boost to the sense of what is possible for you, when you see somebody like you achieving these kinds of goals.”
Some key diverse networking groups include:
Asian American Executive Network
Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors
Black Directors Association
Catalyst.org
Executive Leadership Council (focused on African Americans)
Him For Her
Latino Corporate Directors Association
National Association of Corporate Directors
New York Stock Exchange Board Advisory Council
Women Corporate Directors
Women Executives on Boards
