OUR STORY
In 2009, five visionary businesswomen came together to address a clear imbalance in Belgian corporate governance. They founded Women on Board with a simple, powerful conviction: our boardrooms should reflect the wealth of female talent and leadership already driving the economy.
Our foundation and continued success are built on the vision of our five founders:
OUR OBJECTIVE
Women on Boards goal is not about checking boxes and quota. Our objective is to promote gender diversity at board level.
- For women leaders: To ensure they are supported and enabled in the development of their board career by providing them with board vacancies and a professional netwok.
- For Boards: We are here to provide practical solutions in their search for high quality board ready women. We assist them in building high-performing, resilient boards by connecting them with diverse, highly qualified women leaders.
We do not advocate for diversity and inclusion at the expense of quality.
On the contrary, we believe that bringing fresh perspectives, challenging groupthink, and introducing new core competences leads to stronger risk management, better ESG alignment, and long-term value creation.
THE TREE PILLARS OF OUR IMPACT
To drive real, sustainable change and support both board candidates and businesses, our daily work focuses on three core pillars:
1.ENABLE: Developing the Next Generation of Board Leaders
We prepare and support highly qualified women to step into board mandates with confidence.
How we do it: Through high-quality networking events, targeted webinars, practical career workshops, and our specialized Women on Track training program. While our network specifically champions female talent, our educational activities are open to anyone interested in modern governance.
2. CONNECT: Providing Board Solutions for Organisations
We act as a direct, trusted bridge between organisations looking for directors and the best talent in the market.
How we do it: We offer organisations direct access to our vetted pool of over 300 experienced women leaders. By publishing Open Board Mandates (completely free of charge) and facilitating tailored board pairings, we help companies look beyond traditional, closed networks to find the exact expertise they need.
3.INFLUENCE: Driving Social Impact for Better Governance
We engage with key decision-makers, shareholders, and stakeholders to foster a genuinely inclusive culture in Belgian boardrooms.
How we do it: Real diversity only works when the boardroom culture itself is inclusive. We partner with academic institutions and experts like Profacts to back up our dialogue with concrete facts and research. We raise awareness, host debates across genders, and make the solid economic case for diverse leadership.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
To maintain our high standards of quality and independence, Women on Board operates as a professional non-profit organisation (asbl/vzw) supported by a strong and dedicated governance structure:
Active Board of Directors: A gender-diverse and complentary Board of 9 directors that meets 4-6 times a year to support and guide our mission, work on our strategy and provide oversight.
Rigorous Admissions Committee: Ensuring the exceptional quality of our 300+ member pool through a multi-step admission process and qualitative interviews. Our Admissions Committee is composed of experienced board members with experience in selection, nomination in board search.
- The Board of Directors wished to establish in this charter the principles of good governance intended to ensure the smooth operation of the Women on Board association. The articles of association shall prevail over this charter.
- WoB Corporate Governance Charter
OUR VALUES
Diversity
- We respect and interact with people from different backgrounds, benefiting from their skills and experience.
- We adapt to different cultural contexts/environments and to best practices in the field of diversity.
Ethics and integrity
- We are very much aware of professional, ethical and legal requirements and behave accordingly.
- The way we operate is consistent with expressed principles.
- We are transparent and honest in our dealings with others.
- We put general interest before own interest and stand by our decisions.
Empathy
- We show a deep understanding for the values and motives of others and communicate effectively and concisely, with a focus on building trust.
- For us, “empathy” is a form of social awareness, important for developing a moral sense.
Sharing
- We build commitment by regularly communicating our vision and objectives.
- We promote initiatives aimed at sharing our vision throughout organisations.
- We build bridges between members to exchange expertise, stimulating fertilisation.
Make it happen
- We create a “can do” climate, demonstrating an entrepreneurial attitude by proposing initiatives and making them happen.
- We translate ideas into workable solutions contributing to achieve our goals.
- We consider new ideas and are willing to try out different approaches involving unconventional paths.