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This discussion focuses on evaluating the suitability of serving on a public board versus a private company board, and how to strategically approach board membership to enhance your career. We delve into essential considerations, including:
Public vs. Private Boards: Assessing which type of board aligns better with your career stage and objectives.
Career Impact: Exploring how board membership can enhance your career trajectory and professional network.
Building a Portfolio of Boards: Understanding that a diversified board portfolio requires a distinct and strategic plan.
Value Proposition: Defining and articulating your unique value proposition across bios and online platforms.
Leveraging Your Network: Thoughtfully utilizing your network to support your board membership ambitions.
By addressing these key areas, this discussion aims to help you make informed decisions that support your professional growth and goals.
Amy Karn is a consultant and member of Spencer Stuart’s Boards Practice. She is passionate about helping organizations find and recruit board members who will help them drive results and create a lasting, positive impact on their organization. Amy often works with companies who need help diversifying their boardrooms, are undergoing technology transformations, or are dealing with digital disruption. She works across sectors including technology, media, communications, consumer, retail, education, and financial services.
Extensive board recruiting and governance experience
Throughout her 24 years at Spencer Stuart, Amy has been part of over 900 board assignments. Her diverse client portfolio ranges from global Fortune 10 corporations to pre-IPO businesses including leading technology companies in Silicon Valley and Seattle.
Amy has assisted clients through numerous boardroom situations including activist shareholders, IPO board builds, spin-off board builds, bankruptcy board builds and multi-year, long term board succession.
Amy has worked with clients in Japan, the United Kingdom., Germany, Switzerland, Spain and France to help recruit U.S. executives to the board to bring new perspectives.
Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Amy was the director of research for a Philadelphia-based boutique executive search firm.
Amy is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Rutgers College followed by a master’s in library service. A believer in the importance of music programs in public education, Amy has been an officer for several public school music booster organizations.
Erin Essenmacher has 25 years of experience in media, education strategy and corporate governance. She has written, directed, and produced films for PBS, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, the History Channel, and CNN, and worked with brands like Sony, Apple, Acura, and The Gap.
Over the last decade Erin served on the executive leadership team National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) where she was responsible for the design and delivery of board member training, new product development, organizational strategy and thought leadership innovation. In her role, Erin focused on helping directors make sense of the changing role of the board and how it impacts their mandate, including a deeper understanding of ESG, cyber security, regulatory risk, geopolitical disruption, diversity, culture and digital transformation. During her tenure, Erin helped double NACD membership and drove a 400% growth in education revenue.
Her new venture, The Brigh Group helps organizations develop or reimagine content strategy, growth through partnership and better corporate governance. She is also the founder of Feisty Aphrodite, which focuses on original content creation and advising organizations and other makers on media and content strategy.
Erin has been a frequent speaker on corporate governance, strategy and risk oversight, presenting at industry meetings and conferences and as a regular contributor to Directors and Boards magazine. She has served on boards across sectors including as director for the iconic clothing retailer EILEEN FISHER where she chaired the People and Culture committee and helped lead design of the CEO succession plan. She currently sits on the board of Docs in Progress and the Advisory Board for the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University
Join us for a Salon or Meetup to get a peek inside our community! Peer Groups and Learning Circles are exclusively for members - log in here
A Look Inside Athena is held monthly for prospect members to come and understand how Athena works. They will learn more about the backstory of Athena, see a tour of our platform, and have the opportunity to discuss more of what they are interested in and ask questions about joining our community.
Learn about the most pressing topics facing executives today in an intimate, yet casual, virtual setting. Hosted by board directors and leaders from the world's top brands.
Gather with Athena members in your area for a casual, in-person Meetup. These are planned by request and hosted by Athena members in various cities. If you're interested in hosting and/or joining a meetup in the future, reach out to the Member Success Team and let them know.
We have an incredible community of female leaders at Athena and we want to bring you closer together! Join a Peer Group and build a network of peers you can engage with for guidance, lessons learned and insights around a shared interest. Choose a topic that most interests you or drop in and out of multiple peer groups as it suits you best. You’ll find at least one peer group available to join every week. Each live session goes for one hour, no preparation is needed, just show up as you are. We look forward to seeing you there!
A Learning Circle is an opportunity to connect with a small group of other Athena members in a focused yet casual setting, creating accountability around targeted learning to assist you in achieving your goals. Over the course of 6 sessions, club members will meet every 2 weeks to participate in an organic, peer-led discussion of the session's "chapters" consisting of 1-2 Athena salons which are to be reviewed on your own prior to the group session. When joining, members are committing to completing all 6 sessions.
Typically led by one of Athena's coaches, networking events provide members an opportunity to meet one another in a smaller intimate and virtual setting.
These are typically in-person events led by Coco and our partnering companies on topics that are relevant to the industry and audience of our business partners.
A workshop is an interactive session for members to actively practice something, such as their pitch. These sessions typically involve breakout rooms, member to member feedback and are not recorded.
For members new to Athena looking for ways to engage, these bi-weekly orientations led by an Athena Member Success Manager, provide a live tour of Athena, member success insights, and a chance to get questions answered.
Athena customizes virtual learning events with expert business leaders tailored to a unique company’s needs. These events cultivate cross-functional community, development, and learning across the partner organization.
Athena listens and we're always adding new event types and opportunities for members to engage. See what new events we are currently offering members.
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