Women2Boards Joins Forces with The Athena Alliance

San Francisco, Feb. 2, 2017 – Women2 Boards will join forces with The Athena Alliance  to use their combined resources to increase matchmaking services to boards and serve more women on their journey to the corporate boardroom.   
Since the launch of Women2Boards in 2014, the movement to improve gender diversity in boardrooms has exploded with a significant number of new entities in the marketplace, and the need for an organization to scale and offer more robust services to both boards and women candidates has become apparent, ” said Nancy Sheppard, founder and CEO, Women2Boards. “We are delighted to join with The Athena Alliance which has designed a deep-dive approach to assisting women on their path and has significantly expanded upon the concept that I envisioned for a membership organization.”   
Board-Ready and Seeker Members’ profiles will be retained through year-end 2017 for possible referrals to boards through The Athena Alliance and ongoing Women2Boards relationships. In addition, these members are eligible to register as  vetted Women2Boards diversity candidates with the Equilar Diversity Network, a source used by corporate boards to locate director candidates. Women2Boards members will receive access to past Women2Boards On-Demand webinars for the next 90 days at no charge. Members will continue to receive newsletters and communications from The Athena Alliance anwill be provided details on Athena’s programs to determine if these are appropriate for them. A webinar is being planned with Coco Brown, founder and CEO, The Athena Alliance, to explain their programs and offerings to members.
Nancy will join the leadership team of The Athena Alliance and share her expertise in two key areas – as a 1:1 advisor for women during their journey to the boardroom, and to generate communications strategies and programs to advance the mission. She will continue to offer coaching to a limited number of women who a elect not to participate or are not eligible in The Athena Alliance programs .
The Athena Allaa-logo-full-coloriance was formed in 2016 as a 501(c)(3) with a mission to create key connections that promote qualified women to board of director opportunities and help them excel as they serve in that role. They make introductions between boards seeking directors and amazing women for them to consider. To date, The Athena Alliance has supported 17 boards ranging from large public companies to late-stage private companies. In addition to its work toward matching women to boards, Athena also guides executive women in the development of their personal brand and preparation for board interviews and service through a highly curated, white-glove membership model. Since receiving nonprofit status in July 2016 they have received support and interest from a number of firms nationally, and major grants from Autodesk and Intuit. Donations to date have exceeded $400,000.
We expect to see significant expansion for the organization in 2017 through membership development, program sponsorships, and board opportunities,” said Coco Brown, founder and CEO, The Athena Alliance. “There is not a problem of a shortage of qualified women; rather there is the need to connect boards and these exceptional candidates. The Athena Alliance is not a recruiting firm and it is not a board training program. Rather we are part of the intimate network that introduces great people, and we are part of the women’s support structure that helps her cross the last mile barriers to ensure that when she is tapped for an opportunity, it’s hers if she wants it.  I am delighted that Nancy will be assisting me in our joint role as Journey Advisors for Athena members. Her past experience and obvious passion and dedication to helping women as they reach for a board seat will be a great asset to our program,” said Ms. Brown.  
Contacts:
Coco Brown | founder & CEO, The Athena Alliance |coco@athenaalliance.org |408 410-4950 | AthenaAlliance.org
Nancy E. Sheppard|founder & CEO, Women2Boards |nancy.sheppard@women2boards.com415  613-2323 | Women2Boards.com
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