Global Board Ready Women Initiative Expands: MBA News

The Forté Foundation's Global Board Ready Women initiative, a database of women who are deemed to be 'board-ready', has added to its group of partners, which should increase usage and awareness of the database.

The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) has joined the Global Board Ready Women initiative, bringing with it greater access for recruiters to the database.

“This dual initiative is reflective of the AESC’s support for gender diversity in top-level recruitment, and of our members’ commitment in assisting female executives in their pursuit of key board and leadership roles," says AESC's president, Peter Felix.

The Forté Foundation's Global Board Ready Women Initiative

Forté Foundation's Global Board Ready Women initiative was launched in December last year, and already has over 30 leading global business schools as partners, alongside the European Commission, numerous executive search firms, and advocacy groups such as the 30% Club, the US' National Association of Corporate Directors, the SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations, and the Inter Organization Network (ION).

"We are in a unique position to leverage our relationship with US business schools and corporations to identify women MBA alumni who are board-ready and raise their visibility with leading companies," said Elissa Ellis Sangster, executive director of the Forté Foundation, when the Global Board Ready Women initiative was launched.

"Many top MBA alumni have the right experience for these roles, but may not be on the radar of leading companies. Working with our business school members and other partners, we aim to not only flag top women who are ready to serve on corporate boards, but to build the pipeline for the future."