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Women on Boards: The Path to Board Service

Career

Sharing insights into the investment management industry (with an ETF focus), early career development, and financial wellness

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The BlackRock Alumni and Women Investments networks hosted a discussion on (1) types of boards and (2) the skills they seek, (3/4) the path to board service (positioning your value proposition, creating a board biography), (5) identifying open board seats, and (6) how to be effective once there.

Invaluable insights were shared by retired, senior BlackRock executives, Anne Ackerley, Senior Advisor to BlackRock’s Retirement Business, Eileen Dowling, Independent Trustee and Non-Executive Board Director, Amy Schioldager. Board Member and Strategic Advisor, and Niamh Corbett, Head of Americas at Board Intelligence.

The collective experience of this group spans board seats at fortune 500 public companies, investment funds, start-ups and non-profits, balanced with perspective from Board Intelligence, a female founded and run organization, focusing on board effectiveness.

1. TYPES OF BOARD SEATS

  • Corporate Board (Public vs Private)
  • Investment Fund Board
  • Start-up Board
  • Non-Profit Board
  • Director vs Advisory Board Seats

2. SKILLS SOUGHT BY BOARDS

  • Most board seats have a job specification describing the experience and skills they seek in a candidate
  • To assess the skills a company needs, look at their annual report (10k filing for public companies) to understand their business, organizational focus, and drivers of growth. 
  • Determine how your skillset aligns with business needs

Skills desired vary by board, but they are generally looking for:

  • Generalists with experience managing a business, profit and loss (PnL), and revenue generating responsibility and oversight
  • Specialists from an in-demand field: Examples will vary, but may include cybersecurity, talent/HR, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
  • Investment expertise

3. IDENTIFY YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION

  • It’s important to know your “superpowers” or the unique strengths you’ve developed through your career
  • What skills do you have that align with a board’s skill gaps and needs? What problem are you solving?
  • Pinpoint your value proposition

4. BUILDING YOUR BOARD BIOGRAPHY

  • The Board Biography outlines your value proposition and skillset that can be leveraged by a board
  • Write different versions of your board biography to align with the needs of different types of boards

Important topics to include are:

  • Strategic decisions you’ve made and how your decisions have impacted a business
    • Impact on PnL and fundraising approach/track recordDecisions made that benefit clients and shareholdersPrior experience on non-profit boards can be leveraged when seeking a corporate board seat
    • Prior experience presenting to or being in a boardroom (for example, presenting to an investment fund board)

5. IDENTIFYING OPEN BOARD SEATS

  • Network, network, network!
  • Approach board networking with a project management mindset
  • How are board seats filled?
    • Most board seats are filled via referral, often by existing board members (~75% in the case of mutual fund boards)
    • Look at organizational documents to identify existing board members to engage
  • Identify all participants in board ecosystems (organizations like Board Intelligence, headhunters, other board members)
  • In addition to the board of director seats, consider the advisory board path

6. BOARD EFFECTIVENESS – HOW TO SUCCEED ONCE YOU’RE IN THE SEAT

  • Understand frequency of board meetings (maybe 4-5 per year) and how to prepare for the discussions on the agenda
  • An agenda and contextual information is typically provided ahead of a board meeting for decisions to be made. The delivery method and type of information shared can vary across boards. When needed, consider how to leverage relationships within the board’s organization to gather supplemental information to that which has been provided.
  • Courses are available to understand board structure and how to be on a board (example: Deloitte Global Boardroom Program)

July 15, 2024

Disclosures:

Certain products and services may not be available in all jurisdictions or to all client types. This material is provided for informational and general investment education purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold a security.

This material is general in nature and is not directed to any category of investors, and should not be regarded as individualized, a recommendation, investment advice or a suggestion to engage in or refrain from any investment-related course of action. Investment decisions and the appropriateness of this material should be made based on an investor’s individual objective and circumstances and in consultation with his or her advisors. If you are an individual retirement investor, contact your financial advisor or other fiduciary about whether any given investment idea, strategy, product or service described herein may be appropriate for your circumstances.

Information is obtained from sources deemed reliable, but there is no representation or warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or reliability. All information is current as of the date of this material and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed are subject to change. This material may include estimates, outlooks, projections or other “forward-looking statements." Diversification does not guarantee profit or protect against loss in declining markets. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Indexes are unmanaged and are not available for direct investments. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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