Advisory boards are one of the few corners of the boardroom where you can build your own opportunity.
In a recent Athena salon with Advisory Board Center founder Louise Broekman, that idea stood out above the rest. The insights below draw on her research and on the discussion that followed.
Most paths to a governance board involve waiting. A seat opens, a nominating committee gathers names, and someone recommends you at the right moment. Advisory boards follow a different logic, and the people who understand it early gain a real advantage.
A fast-growing field
The Advisory Board Center, a global professional body for the sector, estimates that the number of advisory board professionals grew from roughly 1.3 million in 2019 to 9.8 million in 2025. Large organizations account for much of that momentum. Corporate environments now make up about 46% of the market, up from 36% only two and a half years ago.
Several forces sit behind these numbers. Governance boards are getting smaller while the work of governance keeps expanding, so fewer directors carry more responsibility. Advisory boards give those directors a place to road-test ideas, tap specialized knowledge, and think through hard problems before they decide. A governance board forms strategy, and an advisory board informs it.
Why this matters for your career
Advisory boards take many shapes: a three-month project board guiding an AI rollout, a peer group of CEOs, a single strategic advisor working alongside a founder. New boards today are mostly project-based, built around a specific challenge such as digital transformation, entering a new market, or navigating geopolitical risk. Each one has a defined mandate and needs particular expertise.
Every one of those mandates is an opening. Organizations seldom announce that they need an advisory board. They discover it when someone helps them see a problem clearly. As Broekman put it, “you can actually create the opportunity.”
That changes how you approach the whole search. Your best prospects are leaders already facing challenges you know well, and a good conversation with one of them can become the start of an advisory relationship.
Start with your top three
Clarity makes this work, and it starts with an honest inventory. Name the three areas of expertise you’re most known for, then ask who is likely to value them. Think about founders in the middle of scaling, executives leading a transformation, investors building a portfolio, and nonprofits entering a new phase.
Organizations use the same method on their side of the table. Well-run advisory boards begin by identifying their top three priorities, then look for advisors whose backgrounds match each one. When your three and their three line up, the fit is easy to recognize.
Skills in demand right now include technology and digital fluency, marketing and sales, geopolitical awareness, and a deep understanding of people and workforce transformation. If your experience touches any of these, you already hold currency in this market.
From there, the work is relational. Map your network, share what you’re good at, and stay curious about what the other person is facing next. Broekman noted that people tend to be “very, very giving” once you can say clearly where you can contribute. Those conversations build trust, and trust is how advisory seats come about.
Know what you want from it
Advisory work can serve different goals. Half-day rates most commonly run between $1,000 and $2,500, and chairs often work on monthly retainers of $3,000 to $5,000. Some roles include equity, and many professionals devote a portion of their portfolio to pro bono work. Others pursue advisory seats for learning, community, or the satisfaction of helping a leader make a hard call.
Knowing your own “why” helps you choose well, and it makes your outreach more authentic. Advisory experience can also strengthen a governance career. Advisory boards typically make up 30% to 50% of a professional’s portfolio, and the two kinds of service sharpen each other. Directors who have advised bring a sharper sense of how input shapes decisions, and advisors who have governed understand what decision-makers carry.
Protect your independence
A growing field invites enthusiasm and also calls for care. Independence is the foundation of advisory work. Advisors who drift into internal decision-making risk becoming what governance experts call a shadow director, with real consequences for their reputation. Clear scope, a defined mandate, and honest boundaries protect everyone involved.
Healthy skepticism helps as well. Any service that charges a monthly fee in exchange for access to seats deserves close scrutiny. Real advisory relationships grow from shared problem-solving, and Broekman describes the work as “thinking together.” Her research found that advisory boards had a 15% impact on financial results and a 30% impact on leaders’ confidence in their decisions. Results like that come from people who know and trust one another.
The Seat You Build
Governance boards ask you to wait for an opening. Advisory boards invite you to look for one. Name your three strengths, find the leaders who could use them, and start a conversation. A seat at the table often begins with a single good question.
Athena members can access the full recording of this salon conversation here in the Athena library. Not a member? Let’s talk.
