Navigating the Path to Public Board Service: A Journey in Progress

By Christine Sakdalan

Despite significant efforts to diversify corporate leadership, women still face substantial hurdles in securing public board seats. In 2024, women hold only about 28% of board seats across Fortune 500 companies. Boardrooms face rising pressure to reflect the stakeholders they serve, and these numbers underscore the gap between progress made and progress still required. As a senior pharmaceutical executive actively pursuing board opportunities, I’ve learned that board service is not an overnight achievement but rather a deliberate journey requiring patience, persistence, and purpose.

Purpose Beyond Corporate Leadership

For me, board service represents more than just a prestigious addition to my resume – it’s a purposeful extension of my career journey.

I see board roles as an opportunity to broaden my impact beyond my current executive responsibilities, allowing me to contribute meaningfully to organizations while continuing to grow as a leader. This isn’t about changing what I’m doing now; it’s about continuing to make meaningful contributions while stretching myself to be intellectually challenged beyond my day to day. Board service offers the perfect avenue to leverage my experience to help organizations while continuing my own leadership journey.

Building a Board Portfolio: My Three-Pronged Approach

Securing board seats requires building a comprehensive portfolio showcasing your readiness. My approach focuses on three key areas:

1. Refining My Personal Brand and Value Proposition

The competition for board seats is intense, particularly for women. Through my work supporting senior leaders, I’ve learned to narrow down my extensive experience into a clear sense of the value I bring – unique to me and also unique in the marketplace.

My particular strength lies in taking something ambiguous, something that doesn’t exist in an organization, and building that capability from the ground up while infusing the right culture. This ability to create structure from ambiguity and build effective teams represents a differentiated skill set that adds distinctive value to boards.

2. Leveraging My Executive Role and Advisory Positions

I’m currently pursuing board opportunities while still active in my executive role, ensuring my perspectives remain fresh and relevant. This dual positioning enables me to offer insights that are current and directly informed by real-time leadership demands. My current executive position offers a platform to develop board-relevant skills. I approach this strategically by viewing my responsibilities through an enterprise lens.

I don’t just think about my current focus area; I think about my position as an enterprise leader and learn from what I see around me. This broader perspective—understanding challenges across multiple functions—builds precisely the strategic outlook boards seek.

I also actively participate in advisory capacities across various forums, including the Pharmaceutical Executive Advisory Board, the Google Health Advisory Board (previously), and startups seeking commercialization guidance. These advisory roles allow me to help others while gaining valuable governance experience that strengthens my board candidacy.

Leading the board of MVP, the non-profit I founded, has given me practical, real-world board experience. We recently brought on a 30-year-old board member, and the fresh energy and perspective they bring have been invaluable. They ask different questions, challenge assumptions productively, and bring innovative thinking that elevates our discussions. This experience has confirmed for me that intergenerational perspectives are not a “nice-to-have,” they’re core to effective boards and healthy organizations.

Most recently, I’ve been appointed to the private board of a small healthcare company where I can apply my pharmaceutical industry expertise in a governance capacity. This appointment represents a significant milestone in my board journey—validating the strategic approach I’ve taken while providing invaluable hands-on experience in corporate board dynamics. The role allows me to contribute directly to strategic decision-making in the healthcare sector while further developing the governance skills that will strengthen my candidacy for additional board opportunities.

3. Expanding My Network with Purpose

Perhaps the most crucial element of a successful board journey is purposeful networking. Board appointments still largely happen through connections, with existing board members discussing who they know when seats become available.

The key insight I’ve gained is the importance of being forthright about aspirations. You have to raise your hand. People need to know you’re interested. This directness may feel uncomfortable, but it’s essential for activating your network.

I didn’t initially realize you had to be so direct. I thought it was just about networking and waiting for opportunities to open. This revelation transformed my approach. Now, I deliberately schedule networking conversations, asking contacts to review my board resume, give me feedback and make introductions. I’m branching beyond my immediate industry, connecting with leaders from varied backgrounds who offer different perspectives and connections.

Starting Early: A Message for Younger Professionals

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that board preparation shouldn’t wait until later in your career. Younger professionals—those in their 30s and even late 20s—should begin building board-relevant experience now. There’s no need to wait until you’ve reached senior executive levels.

Start by seeking advisory roles, joining non-profit boards, or volunteering for governance committees in professional organizations. These experiences build the strategic thinking, fiduciary responsibility understanding, and governance skills that translate directly to corporate board service. The earlier you start developing this expertise, the stronger your eventual candidacy will be.

My experience with our young MVP board member demonstrates that age brings valuable perspectives that complement experience. Organizations increasingly recognize that diverse age representation strengthens decision-making and helps boards stay connected to evolving market dynamics and stakeholder expectations.

Staying Motivated: Celebrating Progress Along the Path

The journey to board service can be lengthy and discouraging, particularly for women and people of color who face additional barriers. What keeps me motivated is remembering the value I bring and the opportunity to pave the way for others.

I remind myself that I have tremendous value to offer organizations seeking board members. I also find motivation in the challenge itself. The harder something is to achieve, the more motivated I become, especially knowing that my success can open doors for others.

Recognition of incremental progress is equally important. Creating a board-focused resume, receiving interest from startups, or becoming more direct in expressing my aspirations—these steps represent meaningful progress deserving acknowledgment. Each milestone, from advisory roles to actual board service, builds credibility and demonstrates readiness for the next opportunity.

The Path Forward: A Call to Persistence

As women leaders contemplating board service, we must remember how hard we’ve worked to reach our current positions. That same determination serves us well on the board journey.

We cannot forget, especially as women leaders, the value we bring to a board. This self-belief, coupled with our responsibility to pave paths for younger generations of leaders, provides powerful motivation to persist.

The journey to board service may be longer and more challenging than anticipated, but the destination remains worthwhile. Persistence pays off, and the strategic approach I’ve outlined can yield tangible results. For those of us sharing this journey, I encourage you to keep going. Keep refining how you articulate the value you bring, leveraging your executive experience, and purposefully expanding your network, and you will build a compelling case for board consideration. Board service isn’t a finish line; it’s a path toward influence with purpose. Each step, each conversation, and each connection helps build a legacy of leadership others can follow.