When a company has an open seat on its board of directors, its leaders often call Ilana Wolfe — especially if the firm wants to offer the job to an executive who may not be a white man, as most corporate directors still are.
A career Goldman Sachs banker, Wolfe has spent nearly three years connecting Goldman clients who need to fill board seats with other executives from the bank's network who would make good directors, placing 65 board members so far. The bank has been vocal about its support for board diversity; CEO David Solomon announced at Davos in 2020 that Goldman would no longer underwrite initial public offerings for companies that lacked a diverse board member, and in 2021 client companies needed two diverse directors before Goldman would take them public.
"I've seen a lot more inbounds for a breadth of backgrounds," said Wolfe, who is the head of corporate board engagement at Goldman and meets with 25 new director candidates each week.
Goldman isn't alone in its stance on diversity in the boardroom. Last year Nasdaq announced that it would require companies listed on its exchange to have a certain number of directors who are diverse by gender or race.
Many things need to happen before corporate America has boards that resemble the makeup of the country's workforce, which is about half women. One of those tasks: getting qualified women into board seats.
When the private equity firm Blackstone invests in a company, it expects a board of directors to include at least one-third executives who are not white men. "We've been proponents of this," said Christine Anderson, a senior managing director and global head of external relations at the firm, as well as a director of Diligent and Bumble.
For Anderson, sitting on boards herself has been educational, she said: "When you serve on a company board, you're seeing different elements of a company's story, growth initiatives, personnel issues."
One opportunity for women executives is that more companies want outside directors now. At Goldman, Wolfe is seeing increased interest from the firm's private equity clients who want to bring on independent directors earlier in the lifecycles of portfolio companies, rather than waiting until the company has concrete plans to go public. Firms coming to Wolfe for guidance on hiring directors are also looking for diversity, both in experience — including less senior executives — and expertise, she said.
"We've got an incredibly talented group of women in the C-suite who would be perfect for boards," said Jennifer Reynolds, CEO of the Women Corporate Directors Foundation, who sits on three boards herself. "That's how you start to see a change in the numbers."
Of directors appointed to S&P 500 companies last year, 35% were first-time board members, up from 21% a decade ago, Wolfe said. There's no lack of eligible candidates, she said: "It's not a pipeline problem; it's a networking one."
Board seats typically go to CEOs or retired executives, but sometimes directors run a large division of a company. Another sought-after board member archetype is an expert in an area where the firm is facing challenges, like cybersecurity, product marketing or international distribution.
"If you have deep technical knowledge in some area that might make you an asset to a board because of that very unique technical skillset, that might be relevant," Reynolds said.
Before an executive can serve on a board, she usually needs the permission of her CEO — or, if she runs the company, of her own board. For many bankers, this is where the quest to join a board stops; banks often have policies that prohibit executives from accepting outside board roles.
The argument for changing that policy is that "it really will bring more to the organization," said Reynolds, whose nonprofit encompasses 2500 women around the world who are board members. "She will get to see different perspectives, different ways of doing things, different management teams." Other points in favor of letting a woman leader serve on an outside board: She'll likely form relationships that will be useful to her own company, and will develop her career, which could encourage her to stay at her firm longer if she feels the firm is investing in her.
The first step, Wolfe said, is to go to your CEO or manager and tell them you're interested in serving on a board. Women tend to be "hesitant to ask favors from people who are senior to them," she said, but it's important to remember that your boss is helping the company, not giving you special perks.
"The reason why CEOs let their executives serve on boards isn't charity; it's because they believe it makes them richer executives," Wolfe said.
If you don't have an offer yet, Anderson suggested contacting an executive recruiting firm that specializes in board searches. Before accepting a board position, Anderson said, it's important to do your own diligence on the company, its managers and its culture. "You have to be committed to spending the time to reference check the leadership team and do a lot of reading, requesting that you meet a lot of the people, understanding what you're there to do, what are the company's goals and why they picked you, what is it they think you bring to the table," she said.
Given how difficult it is to get a paid spot on a corporate board, some women opt to start by volunteering to join a nonprofit board. They often figure that they will gain expertise and maybe meet some fellow board members who will be helpful in helping them to secure a corporate director seat. Banks typically permit this kind of community service, with approval. But it's not a foolproof strategy given the sheer time commitment, both Wolfe and Anderson said.
"I would never suggest to someone to join a nonprofit because it's a steppingstone to joining a corporate board," Wolfe cautioned, but noted that if you choose a cause you care about, you might meet similarly interested directors: "One of the biggest unintended outcomes of joining a nonprofit is it's another opportunity to deepen your network of people who see you in action."
Women who reach executive levels tend to be eager volunteers. This quality is useful when deciding to share your expertise with a company as a director.
"Having really competent board members is important," Anderson said. "Modern governance is crucial to a company's success."
