Women on Boards: Building Exceptional Leaders

Women on Boards: Building Exceptional Leaders prepares female executives and their allies to seize emerging opportunities. You will learn how to identify boards that best fit your skills and experience, better understand the fundamental obligations of directors, and discover best practices for corporate governance duties. You will also acquire proven strategies and tools to enhance your resume and market yourself successfully to nomination committees, search firms, and corporate board consultants. Exclusive invitations to join high-level networking and resource groups, including Wharton’s Alumni for Boards group, mean the impact of this comprehensive program will endure long after it ends.

Executive women and their allies who have been thinking about board service should act now to prepare themselves for emerging opportunities. Both practical and inspiring, Women on Boards will boost your chances of rising to the top of the list when firms are looking to fill a seat.

You will explore how to build your personal brand. You will learn to strategically use social media, choose the right speaking engagements, construct a powerful network, and more. Moreover, get in-depth guidance for putting together your board bio, CV, and LinkedIn profile. With these skills in your arsenal, you can become a recognized expert in your field so boards will seek you out.

Cultivating relationships with existing board members will be discussed. But you will also learn how to market yourself to other key players such as nomination committees, search firms, consulting firms, and external counsel.

You will determine which board opportunities are the best fit for you, and the right questions to ask when considering a seat. Plus, investigate paid versus volunteer positions, and the kinds of compensation packages you should advocate for.

This program will also give you a strong foundation for serving in your first director role. Explore how to navigate the politics and culture of the boardroom, and discover how to make your voice heard. Find out how to look for red flags in accounting, compensation, and succession, and learn other board fundamentals.

In addition, Women on Boards will provide you with an invaluable opportunity to meet and network with other high-level executive women and their allies. With this program, expect to have your confidence increased and to acquire the tools you need to win that first public company board seat.

Session topics include:

Accelerate Your Board Journey: Two Powerful Opportunities

As a participant in the Women on Boards program, you will receive invitations to two unique opportunities for accelerating your journey to board service. The first is Wharton’s alumni affinity group, Wharton Alumni for Boards , which connects 1, 500 alumni who are dedicated to advancing corporate governance and increasing Wharton representation on boards. This community supports members at every stage of their board service journey with invaluable insights and networking. They host monthly Zoom calls that alternate between networking sessions and expert-led discussions with speakers such as Anouk Pappers (CEO of Signitt) and Chuck Gray, WG'01 (Egon Zehnder, U.S. CEO and board practice leader). Additional resources include a private LinkedIn group and access to a robust website featuring valuable resources and continuously updated content.

Women on Boards participants have exclusive access to extended opportunities in partnership with illumyn Impact —designed to accelerate your path to board service and expand your influence once you’re there.

Participants are invited to an optional informational session with Jocelyn Mangan, CEO of illumyn Impact. illumyn Impact is accelerating board diversity through warm introductions to board opportunities and the seeding of relationships between executives, CEOs, and investors at roundtables and networking dinners. Although illumyn Impact’s talent pool is exclusively referral-based, participants of the Women on Boards program have the option to join the network at no cost.

Participants may also deepen their board-readiness preparation through the Boardroom Excellence Fellowship , delivered in collaboration with illumyn Impact. Since 2022, the Fellowship has convened more than 160 senior executives from leading global companies, equipping accomplished leaders to secure board roles and contribute with confidence and impact. The program provides unique content, interactive experiences, and personalized insights and resources. Women on Boards participants can enjoy a reduced rate for the fellowship's Platinum level program.

Details on how to participate in these offerings are provided post-program.

This program is designed for distinguished senior-level female executives and their allies who aspire to serve on a corporate board or have recently been nominated. Specifically, distinguished women executives and their allies who are:

Additionally, this program will benefit executives who have non-traditional or underrepresented professional backgrounds that are currently sought out for board service, such as experience with cybersecurity, climate change, human resources, nonprofit work, community organizing, politics, corporate social responsibility, or socially responsible investing.

While the program is designed for women executives (and will be most beneficial to those who identify as such), the program is open to all executives who otherwise fulfill the admissions criteria. Please find the University of Pennsylvania’s Nondiscrimination Statement here .

Fluency in English, written and spoken, is required for participation in Wharton Executive Education programs.

To further leverage the value and impact of this program, we encourage companies to send cross-functional teams of executives to Wharton. We offer group-enrollment benefits to companies sending four or more participants.