PREPARE TO LEAD.

MAKE AN IMPACT.

BOARD LEADERSHIP PROGAM

 
 
 

Learn from executive and professional women whose careers have positively benefited from board service in both the social and private sectors.

 
 

THE GOAL

The UPWARD Board Leadership Program is committed to achieving gender parity in the boardroom by providing women with the strategic tools, resources, knowledge, and opportunities to be effective board members and pursue a board seat.

THE BENEFITS

UPWARD is a community of executive women passionate about personal development, career advancement, and community leadership. The Board Leadership Program provides an opportunity for members to increase their knowledge of board governance, strengthen their leadership skills, and enhance their community trusteeship and obtain a certificate, that guides participants to demonstrate their new knowledge and expertise by engaging with a nonprofit board. 

Over the course of 8 weeks (about 1 and a half months) of virtual sessions and self-paced e-learnings. The commitment to becoming board trained includes approximately 20 hours of self-paced e-learning and 6 hours of virtual sessions.

The UPWARD Board Leadership Program provides diverse speakers that share their expertise on diversity and inclusivity in the boardroom. These topics offer robust discussion with the participants and strengthen their skills as they pursue their passion to serve and reshape their communities. 

As an executive and professional woman, your community needs your leadership now more than ever. Serving on a nonprofit board allows you to use your education, passions, skills, and expertise to strengthen and shape the world around you.

The 8-week curriculum outlines live sessions and self-paced e-learning and prepares you to leverage your talents and lived experience to excel at board governance. Upon completion of the program, you will be certified in the essentials of nonprofit board governance and offered the opportunity to match with a nonprofit who is seeking someone with your gifts. This program will also give you the opportunity to connect with other executive and professional women on similar journeys. 

As an established leader serving on a nonprofit board or committee, you will develop and broaden your community trusteeship. Your experiences will provide many opportunities to expand your professional network, increase your influence, and further your personal impact.

You’ll Learn: 

  • Board Member Basics

  • Essential Guiding Documents 

  • The Nonprofit Financial Essentials

  • Evaluating Agency Programs and the CEO

  • Board Meetings and Committees

  • How Nonprofit Board Service Translates to For Profit Service

  • …and more!

 
 
 

This year’s Women in the Boardroom report by Deloitte showed the global average of women on boards sits at just under 20% (19.7%), an increase of just 2.8 percentage points since the last report, published in 2019. At this pace, the world will not reach gender parity until at least 2045.

 
 

THE DETAILS

The UPWARD Board Leadership program takes place over the course of 8 weeks (about 1 and a half months) through live virtual sessions and self-paced e-learnings. 

The live virtual sessions occur via Zoom at 11 AM PT. The Zoom invites are sent by an UPWARD team for the following dates: 

Session 1, February 1st: In the first session we will do a brief introduction on each participant, discuss the career and community impact of board service, the business case for board diversity, and inspect reality about board leadership. We will learn the basics of board governance and essential guiding documents used for boards.

Session 2, February 15th : In this session, you will learn about the basics of board governance, essential guiding documents used for boards, and how nonprofit board service translates to for-profit board governance. We will also problem solve using real-life case studies and scenarios.

Session 3, February 29th: For the third session in the series, we will dive into nonprofit financial essentials, how to evaluate agency programs and the CEO, and take a look at board and committee meetings. This session brings an opportunity to ideate new solutions for another real-world scenario.

Session 4, March 14th: In the final session of this program series, we will discuss how to leverage your new learnings and certification to strengthen your professional brand. We will also have a lab working on how to set up your profile, engage with potential board matches, and examine best practices for writing your board bio.

You will receive instructions on how to log in to the Board Build platform and will be assigned videos to watch between each live virtual session. (approx. 3 to 5 hours of video homework)

It is highly encouraged you attend all live sessions.  The recording will be provided in case you are absent due to an emergency. 

Thank you to our partner, BoardBuild, for facilitating the Board Leadership Program.