The great news is that Women on Boards caters for all via its Post a Board Position service. A core activity of WOB since 2006, the free Post a Position service provides transparency and availability of opportunities to women. Until WOB came along, board roles were largely kept to ‘those in the know’ rather than canvassing ‘those who we don’t know’ - a category in which women were/are highly represented!
The WOB Post a Board Position service is taken up by organisations of all types – Not-For-Profit, social enterprises, government, listed companies, private companies, SMEs and start-ups. A modest number of search firms use us and we encourage more to get in touch to access our talented pool of women.
While it is difficult to measure success as WOB does not act as a broker for free board postings, feedback and anecdotal evidence tells us that we have posted close more than 4,000 vacancies in our 10 years of operation and seen more than 3,000 women achieve board roles. Not bad for a back-of-the-envelope start up.
More reliable statistics tell us that of these board postings, about 45 per cent pay their directors while 15-20 per cent cover expenses. A popular posting will attract 300 to 400 views in a two-week period.
Pathway to Success
From time to time you will see a posting for an executive role. We call this a pathway opportunity based on the nature of the organisation, its demand for female applicants and, importantly, the opportunity it offers to contribute to the portfolio approach often taken by WOB members.
For example:
• Scholarship offerings (governance education, overseas opportunities, professional development)
• Part-time company secretary and consultancy roles (governance & risk, exposure to non-executive-directors)
• Senior executive roles, often in the third (NFP) sector
This edition of Ruth’s Review brings you some different opportunities to consider in the rich tapestry of your portfolio career:
• ID 3852 CEO,
Gippsland Water
• ID 3904 CEO,
Transparency International
• ID 3694 Short-term advisory,
Sydney City Institute
• ID 3723
Project funding
• ID 3606 Part-Scholarship,
NSW Leaders
Take a look at these along with our more regular board roles. You never know, something might just pique your interest.