Women In Bio Launches Executive-Level Certification Program to Prepare Women in Life Sciences for Board of Directors Role

Women In Bio (WIB), an organization of professionals committed to promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship of women in the life sciences, today announced the launch of a new executive-level board certification training program that will prepare women in the Life Sciences to become members of Boards of Directors. The “Boardroom Ready” program will provide women with a full understanding of the duties, responsibilities and commitments of serving on both public and private boards. Graduates will also have access to events and a network designed to facilitate board appointments. Women In Bio is offering participation to its members and will soon be accepting applications for the first program, which is expected to begin this fall. LifeSci Advisors, an investor relations and corporate communications firm focused in the life sciences sector, is the Founding Sponsor of the Boardroom Ready program, with additional support provided by MassBio and Biogen.

“Women are significantly underrepresented on the boards of Life Sciences companies and the Boardroom Ready program will ensure that more women are qualified, willing, and proactively seeking Board memberships. This new initiative is an important step toward promoting women leadership in our industry, and we are pleased to be an integral part of positioning them to assume key roles,” said Kristi Sarno, National President of Women In Bio.

“We’re excited to be supporting Women In Bio and serving as the Founding Sponsor of the Boardroom Ready program,” said Michael Rice, President and Co-Founder of LifeSci Advisors. “This program is right at the core of our mission to increase gender diversity in the life sciences field – and specifically to increase the number of women on our clients’ boards of directors.”

The five-day program has been inspired by and scales the successes of Biogen’s Raising the Bar initiative, making the program available industry-wide. The fall course will be held at George Washington University and the curriculum will cover topics including financial literacy and strategy, corporate governance, investor relations, and crisis management. Throughout the program and following completion, WIB and its sponsors will host events around the country to facilitate the matching of program graduates, who are accomplished executives and advisors in the life sciences industry, to companies seeking new board members.

“It is clear that the life sciences industry will need a robust and diverse leadership pipeline in order to sustain our growth and success well into the future,” said Robert K. Coughlin, President & CEO of MassBio, a life sciences trade association representing 750+ biotechnology companies, universities, academic institutions and other organizations dedicated to advancing cutting-edge research. MassBio is launching a gender diversity initiative in 2016. “We are thrilled to partner with Women In Bio, LifeSci Advisors, Biogen and others to help prepare more women to serve on corporate boards.”

“With only 10% of women in board roles, the biotech gap is one of the widest of any industry. This opportunity is one that we must tackle together if we are to ensure our industry can really benefit from engagement with leaders of all genders and backgrounds,” said Adriana Karaboutis, EVP of Technology and Business Solutions and Corporate Affairs at Biogen. “We are extremely proud of our work to date and are excited to see this program move forward through this new partnership, as we work to fuel an industry-wide movement to close the gender gap on corporate boards.”

The Boardroom Ready program is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2016 and applications from qualified candidates will be accepted in June. For more information about the program and instructions for applying, please visit www.womeninbio.org/executives/board-ready.