Next cohort starts Jan 21, 2025
9-week virtual course
20 in-class hours
Taught by leading board experts
Certificate of completion
Comprehensive support for your board journey
- Weekly live sessions with board experts to learn boardroom fundamentals and best practices for your board search
- Weekly Office Hours to ask follow-up questions and get extra support from experienced board directors
- 1:1 mentoring session with an Athena Board Expert; you can use this time to review your documents or get focused feedback on your search, networking, or interview strategies
- Ongoing monthly Peer Group exclusively for graduates of the course to stay up-to-date on governance trends and board search best practices.
- Certificate of completion + a digital badge of completion to upload to your LinkedIn profile
Next Cohort starts Jan 21
Accelerate your board journey
We’ve supported over 450 women to boards including Zillow, Bose, Carlotz, PNC Bank, Dropbox, Noodles & Co., and more. We can’t wait to support you, too.
Athena Academy’s Board Readiness Course is designed to help you understand board service, identify the type of board that’s right for your experience, build your network, and maximize your chance of success in your board search.
Modules are taught by experienced board directors bringing practical, from-the-trenches perspectives. All sessions are highly interactive and designed to create a “safe space” to ask and discuss everything you’ve wanted to know about board service.
Backed by the wisdom of Athena’s executive development community of the top women in business, the Board Readiness Course is your launchpad to leading at the board level.
Designed to educate & accelerate future board leaders
This 9-week course is fully remote with weekly sessions (ranging from 2 to 3½ hours) held over Zoom.
You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of the role of the board, your role as a director, how the board operates, and how to position yourself for a board seat, including…
- The roles and responsibilities of board directors
- The different types of boards operating in today’s governance landscape
- The board’s role in strategy and risk oversight
- The key board committees and their functions
- The fundamentals of ESG+T (environmental, social, governance + technology)
- The distinction between leading from the boardroom and C-suite and how to interact with executives as a board director
- The nuances of boardroom dynamics and culture
- A complete toolkit for how to strategically approach your board search, including networking strategies, identifying your fit and delivering your value with confidence, nailing the board interview, and more
Meet our board experts
Learn governance best practices from the brightest minds in the modern boardroom. We’ve handpicked experienced board directors from the Athena network who will offer highly practical insights and behind-the-scenes wisdom you won’t find anywhere else.
Athena Alliance is a tremendous resource and network for board directors, giving busy executives support throughout their board career – from building a board bio and positioning to providing industry and governance details. Athena is my trusted resource for board insights and world-class networking.
Who should apply
- Sitting board directors and aspiring directors
- People who want to learn from experienced board directors who’ve been in trenches and understand the modern landscape of board service
- People who want help expanding their network in pursuit of a board seat
- People who want a high-touch cohort experience
Have questions? Talk to a member of our team.
Athena Alliance has provided me with an amazing network of women who are actively serving on boards. Learning from their real-world experiences has been invaluable in preparing me for my own board search.
Athena Alliance has provided me with an amazing network of women who are actively serving on boards. Learning from their real-world experiences has been invaluable in preparing me for my own board search.
From an Athena Board Match client: Athena does important work of identifying, preparing, and educating executives for board roles (public, private, and not-for-profit). Athena has helped me identify well-qualified executives for open board roles. The team is responsive and on point with candidate suggestions and have become my “go to” as soon as I get a board assignment.
Accelerate your career with Athena Academy
Athena Academy brings together community and learning in an intimate setting, while delivering everything you need to know about what the job entails and requires – whether you’re striving for the C-suite or boardroom or simply want overall executive development. These courses will arm you with a toolkit to successfully land the role you’re seeking. You can connect live with other members, learn from and ask questions to experts who’ve “been there, done that”, and accelerate your journey to reaching your career goal – all within Athena Academy. More courses launching soon.