BoardSeatMeet Announces Public Beta to Democratize Access to Social Capital and Board Readiness
A new intelligent digital platform seamlessly connects board leaders to candidates to accelerate gender balance and racial equity in corporate boardrooms
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BoardSeatMeet, Inc, a social impact venture powering gender and racial diversity in corporate boardrooms, announced its public beta release Tuesday. As enterprises continue to struggle to attract the brightest talent from underrepresented groups, BoardSeatMeet diversifies leadership at the senior-most levels of organizations through a simple platform that makes building social capital between board leaders and candidates more efficient, more convenient, and more powerful.
In the US alone, it is estimated that there are more than 15 million high-potential leaders and women from under-represented groups who could be eligible candidates now or in the future serving more than 65,000 board positions. So where's the disconnect? Most board roles today are still filled through word of mouth and advocacy of individuals who connect in professional and social situations. This "social capital" has historically been a currency traded among white male executives.
"We can all look at the data and agree that progress in gender and racial diversity is not happening fast enough," said Phyllis Campbell, Chairwoman of the Pacific NW Region of JPMorgan Chase. "We need to use all levers - including new digital paradigms - to accelerate the presence of more women and people of color in the C-Suite and in the critical board positions."
For enterprises, BoardSeatMeet offers a new and unique approach to cultivating leadership among their high potential leaders from under-represented groups, and transforming their existing conventional leadership programs. By providing the opportunity to build direct relationships with senior board leaders across industries, organizations can more meaningfully and demonstrably support their leadership initiatives and have their leaders benefit from a broader experience while also contributing to the future of diverse board governance
For candidates, BoardSeatMeet provides a holistic solution to obtain early access to board positions, to get education and training on board governance, and to build a warm network and accrue social capital with the board member community - while getting the necessary coaching and mentoring required to prepare themselves for a board role.
For board members, BoardSeatMeet offers a simple platform giving them targeted access and exposure to vetted executives outside of their typical, often siloed, networks. BoardSeatMeet also provides an online venue to connect directly with each other to expand additional board opportunities and share best practices.
"We're excited to launch BoardSeatMeet to tackle the issue of racial and general parity on boards," says Rika Nakazawa, CEO and cofounder, "and approach these long-standing challenges with technology that makes it easy for board members and under-represented groups to discover and optimize the chance for a meaningful connection - in particular leveraging the ways that Covid-19 has redefined how we build social capital."
About BoardSeatMeet Inc - BoardSeatMeet Inc. is an Austin-based venture founded in 2019 by Rika Nakazawa and Malur Narayan, to power gender balance and racial equity in boardrooms by making it easier for board members to connect with each other and with candidates from underrepresented groups. BoardSeatMeet is currently in beta and will launch commercially early 2021. To learn more and sign up for the Open Beta, visit https://www.boardseatmeet.com.
BoardSeatMeet, Inc.
Monik Middleton
[email protected]
(602)774-4362
SOURCE BoardSeatMeet Inc
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