Monday’s Women in the Boardroom (WITB) event in San Francisco, CA (actually Redwood Shores, near Silicon Valley) was the second stop on the 15-city tour which began November 30, 2009 in the Twin Cities, MN. It has been a privilege to attend both of these events where Sheila Ronning of Sharp UpSwing and her team have gathered an impressive panel of women corporate directors to address between 200 and 500 top level women executives about what it really takes to prepare for a corporate board role.

Unlike other events on the subject, Women in the Boardroom addresses the fundamentals: what women, themselves, need to do to prepare board-worthy careers.

WITB describes its work as,

"an executive leadership event designed to assist in the preparation of board service -– better qualifying you and connecting you with the right people and resources."

The January 25th San Francisco’s panel was especially practical and clear-headed, with the following outstanding directors:

     Barb Allen (Retired President, Proactive Partners)
     Erika Williams (Board Member, VPEP Technologies, Inc.)
     Nora Denzel (Intuit’s Employee Management Solutions)
     Maria Sainz (CEO & President, Concentric Medical)

with questions from Panel Moderator, Wendy Beecham (CEO, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives).

Tune into Women in the Boardroom when it comes to your city if you want to learn what it truly takes to build your career toward a company director candidacy.