Chicago Network (content frame)

"Every board wants to be diversified, and looks for people with a variety of skills. The more operating experience you have, the more attractive you will be to a board. You're a stronger candidate if you're the head of an operating unit, the head of technology, or the head of an international business. CEOs want people who know what it's like to sit in their seats."
Ellen Rudnick
Executive Director and Clinical Professor,
Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship,
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business,
and director of four corporate boards


	CEO SCORECARD - NONPROFIT YOUR ORGANIZATION STATS How many women in your company have budget responsibility? How many women are on your Board? Your Executive Committee? How many women directly report to you? How many women report to your direct reports? Can you name them? What is the percentage of women in your service base? In your donor base? YOUR PERSPECTIVE Have you ever worked with or for a woman who was a strong positive influence on you? Do you believe that your wife/mother/sister/daughter/niece was/is able to use her full potential in her work life? Would they agree? YOUR ACTION PLAN Do you have formal initiatives to hire and advance women, e.g. recruitment, work-life programs, career development, succession planning? How many women are you currently mentoring? Do you have set goals for increasing diversity in your organization? In your vendor base? Do you tie executive compensation to achieving diversity in your organization? At senior levels? THE BOTTOM LINE Best in class corporations show close to 40% representation of women in senior leadership positions.* Where is your organization? *Catalyst (2004), "The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity".