Developing Qualified
Board Candidates
Strengthen and enrich your career
while leveraging your strategic and financial skills.
Inforum BoardAccess™ provides resources, support and networking opportunities for women who are qualified for seats on public and private corporate boards today and in the future. The initiative is expected to help retain Michigan’s top female executive talent, enhance corporate decision-making processes and improve board diversity.
Click here to download the Board Readiness Survey & Application.
Applications are accepted all year long.
One-on-One
One-on-one coaching helps qualified senior executives chart a personal course for board service. Five BoardAccess™ coaching and pre-work sessions with a board mentor are tailored to fit a busy executive’s schedule and provide an action-oriented, flexible framework for building a “board brand.”
Networking
Exclusive networking opportunities connect qualified candidates with CEOs, current board directors, executive recruiters and other advocates for advice and support on the road to corporate board service.
Learn
Informational sessions broaden attendees’ perspectives on board service and career decisions that may enhance future board credentials.
National Research
National reach and influence means BoardAccess™ participants benefit from Inforum’s connection to national efforts and research to advance gender diversity on corporate boards.
As part of Inforum BoardAccess™, the program provides:
- Tools to assess your board ready skills, strengths and interests
- One-on-one coaching by mentoring executives with board-related experience
- A national network of mentors/coaches from a variety of backgrounds
- Five comprehensive coaching and pre-work sessions to fit your busy schedule
- Inforum’s action oriented, flexible framework for leveraging your strengths
- Outcomes focused on creating a personalized strategy to pursue board service
- Exclusive networking opportunities with CEOs, serving directors
- A circle of like-minded women to explore opportunities and new ideas
- Listing your board ready profile on a national database of director candidates
Who should participate?
Inforum BoardAccess™ is designed for senior level executives with the business, management or professional experience necessary to be effective corporate directors. Candidates should possess the business expertise, financial literacy, strategic perspective and judgement to perform well in decision making and governance roles on corporate boards. Participants should be open to frank and honest assessments of strengths and gaps related to board service and commit the time and energy needed to develop and execute personal action plans to secure board positions.
Program Outline
- To qualify for the program, interested participants submit a resume and the completed board readiness survey to the program director.
- An upfront assessment and interview will be conducted to assure each candidate can benefit from the program.
- Upon acceptance in the program, an Inforum BoardAccess™ professional holds an interview with each applicant to discuss program expectations and begin the matching process. Individuals are matched with coaches and placed in the program based on the availability of the selected coach.
- A series of five one-hour, one-on-one coaching sessions are held. During the first coaching session, the coach will determine with the candidate her level of board readiness, if she wants to proceed with the program, and set individual goals around developing a personal action plan for board placement. Four subsequent sessions focus on the development process and completing the action plan. Coaching sessions can take place by telephone, be web-based, or held in person, depending on the coach’s location and candidate’s preference.
- Following the coaching sessions (about a six month process) and based on the coach’s recommendation, the participant will be linked into exclusive networking opportunities with CEOs and serving directors.
- The program fee also includes a one-year Inforum membership to assist the candidate in networking with other executives.
- All Inforum BoardAccess™ participants have access to workshops, web resources on board readiness topics and a national database for listing their board-ready resumes.
Outcomes
During the coaching process, individual participants will explore their business, financial and governance acumen and readiness for board service. Participants develop and receive feedback on their personal action plan to secure board positioiins and their board-ready resume or bio. The goal at the conclusion of the program is that each participant has confidence in her readiness to seek a board position along with a realistic action plan and timeline to be executed toward that end. The advantage of listing a board-ready profile on a national database of director candidates sets our candidates apart from others.
Cost
- Total Cost$3,200This includes a non-refundable $700 fee for the application, pre-screening interview, assessment and matching process, and $2,500 for the five sessions.
- Refundable$2,000If an applicant decides not to proceed with the program after the first session, $2,000 of the fee is refundable.
Interested in board service or learning more about the skills needed?
Self Evaluation Tools for Board Readiness
Development Areas
Are you considering a career path that includes joining a public or private corporate board? If so, demonstrated experience in one or more of the following areas will make you an attractive candidate:
- Profit and loss responsibility (true P&L experience with revenue or sales targets, not just a cost center P&L, ideally 3-5x the revenue of the company you’re hoping to serve as a board member)
- Subject matter expertise relevant to the target company
- Legal, financial, and/or Sarbanes-Oxley experience
- Chief Executive Officer
- Division President
- Advisory Board experience with a private company
- Board of Directors experience with a private company
- Non-Profit Board of Directors or Board of Advisors experience
Self Evaluation Surveys
The most attractive board candidates have experience and are well versed in all aspects of corporate strategic, financial and legal areas. A critical look at your skills and accomplishments will help you assess your strengths, the gaps you need to address, and your board-readiness. Once you have an inventory of your accomplishments and skills, you can develop a plan to enhance the areas that you might feel are underdeveloped as you consider your board search.
Evaluating Board Opportunities
Here are some tips to determine if a board opportunity is right for you?
Here are some tips to determine if a board opportunity is right for you?
- Investigate Directors & Officers insurance limits, especially what and how much it covers to know if it is enough.
- Meet as many of the board members as you can to ensure there is good chemistry. The key for a successful board experience is chemistry with the other members and Chairman. If you don’t have that, your tenure could be rocky.
- Gain a clear understanding of the specific skills the committee is looking for. Convince the board you posses them.
- Ask questions to determine how well the board works together. Try to ascertain where potential the land mines may be. How do decisions get made?
- Research which board members are exiting and why.
Inforum combines strategic connections, proven professional development programs, a respected forum for new ideas, and original research to accelerate careers for women and boost talent initiatives for companies.
Privacy Policy | Bylaws
Southeast Michigan
400 Renaissance Center, Suite 2155
Detroit, Michigan 48243
Phone 313.567.0232
Thank you to General Motors Co. for the generous gift of office space.
West Michigan
940 Monroe Ave. NW, Suite G-158
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
Phone 616.588.9400