Women's Director Development Program

The Journey to the Boardroom

This highly-customized program from the Kellogg Center for Executive Women provides a rigorous approach to corporate director training. You’ll gain the skills you need to be an effective board member and practical tools for landing a seat at the table. In a collaborative atmosphere, you’ll learn alongside other rising executive women.

Through one-on-one interactions with experienced directors, board advisors, senior Kellogg professors, and alums of this program currently sitting on corporate boards, you will discover how to make the leap onto nominating committees’ radar screens, gain insight into choosing the right board opportunities for you and understand how to contribute meaningfully as a director.

Key Benefits

• Broaden your understanding of the role of the board
• Hone your skills crafting and delivering your value proposition for a board seat
• Increase your visibility with executive search firms and nominating committees
• Analyze opportunities to harness your network to identify and create board opportunities
• Learn to detect red flags and read between the lines in financial statements

Program Content

Characteristics of the Most Effective Boards and Board Members

• Explore critical roles of directors in strategy and change
• Examine emerging governance challenges and trends

Your Value Proposition

• Develop a compelling board profile highlighting governance competencies
• Hone a concise value proposition to use within your network and with other influencers
• Practice delivering your value proposition to people in your network, search firm executives, your CEO, and directors

Board Interview

• Prepare yourself for an interview that is unlike other interviews; get ready to answer questions about your role in governance
• Practice in a setting with experienced directors so you are prepared for the interviews to come

Earning the Nomination

• Build credibility, evaluate board opportunities, and conduct the due diligence to select the right boards to join

Be an Effective Director

• Gather and analyze information to maximize your contributions in meetings and ask the right questions
• Identify red flags in financial statements with a careful analysis of balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow

SPECIAL FEATURE:

Listing In Database Of Women Directors

As a participant in this program, you can create an individual profile in the Kellogg Center for Executive Women’s Database of Women Directors, an extensive repository of information on exceptionally well-qualified female board candidates. The Kellogg Center for Executive Women uses this database to provide information on qualified directors to search firms, nominating committees and CEOs free of charge. The Kellogg Center for Executive Women also proactively reaches out to companies to encourage them to consider qualified women for their boards.

Below are examples of boards on which former participants of the Women’s Director Development Program currently hold seats:

• Apogee Enterprises, Inc.
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• CDW Computer Centers
• CIGNA Corporation
• Honeywell International
• Ingredion Incorporated
• Mutual of Omaha
• Optima Bank and Trust Co.
• Oshkosh Corporation
• Salesforce.com
• Sargento
• Southwest Airlines
• Weyerhaeuser
• Whirlpool
• Xcel Energ