Women on Boards (WOB) Project Celebrates Women's History Month and Landmark One-Year Anniversary
Women on Boards (WOB) Project was created in 2020 by consumer industry leaders to increase the number of women serving on consumer company boards while also expanding diversity including race, ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation, gender fluidity.
- (1888PressRelease) March 10, 2021 - San Francisco, Calif. – Women on Boards (WOB) Project, a nonprofit with the mission of empowering women business leaders and improving diversity and inclusion at the board of directors level across consumer brands proudly celebrates its one-year anniversary. The organization was formed in 2020 with a driving mission to spark an industry-wide movement towards greater gender diversity on consumer boards and since then has placed 17 women on the boards of prominent, private consumer companies.
WOB Project launched last year in partnership with powerhouse partners such as VMG Partners (a co-founder of WOB Project), L Catterton, Swander Pace Capital, Alliance Consumer Growth, TSG Consumer Partners, Encore Consumer Capital and CircleUp. This circle of industry thought leaders in the financial and private equity space worked together in this inaugural year to diversify the boards of their portfolio brands and will continue to do so with the addition of North Castle Partners, Stride Consumer Partners and William Blair. All partners recognize that today, companies need directors with specific skillsets that will help them grow key functions and build stakeholder value, thus proving that diversity improves business results.
“Statistically, we see that over 70% of Board seats have historically been filed without the use of search firms, which means that they are being filled primarily through informal networks, unsurprisingly leading to homogenous talent pools and a lack of diversity in the board room,” said Cassie Nielsen, co-founder of Women on Boards Project and Talent Partner at VMG Partners.
“This needs to change for the betterment of businesses and it’s clear in our first year that what we are doing is working! In the past year we have made amazing progress , with a deliberate focus on the private company space, an ecosystem we know well. Moving forward we are asking companies to pledge to interview at least 70% of the candidates we tailor to their search to reduce unexpected biases that can creep into the process across gender, race and more as we continue to challenge the evolution of the current board ecosystem,” Nielsen adds.
WOB Project to-date has partnered with 17 companies to collaborate on a candidate scorecard, compensation parameters, interview and research strategy. The organization has also added internal talent to their respective Board of Directors through the addition of Lisel Welden, a strategic marketing professional with 17+ years of global brand marketing experience with companies including Nike, Lyft, Bleacher Report, Stitch Fix and more.
“The women we have placed on consumer company boards are remarkable,” said Sheryl O’Loughlin, co-founder and co-chair of Women on Boards Project, former CEO of REBBL Inc. and Clif Bar and co-founder of Plum Organics. “The past year has taught us that there are an abundant number of women candidates for these positions, who are ready and have been ready for board positions. We just needed a new approach to evolve the process for an industry that desperately needs new faces. While the public sector has received more scrutiny, diversity is just as paramount for private companies who are not necessarily under the same pressure to make changes. Our aim is to support these women through a game-changing movement to provide access to seats at the board table, and in turn support these companies.”
Women on Boards Project celebrates International Women’s Day through a culmination of the organization’s inaugural year of outstanding placements across food & beverage, family, fashion brands and more. Select placements from 2020 include:
• aden + anais: Sharon Fox (Operating Partner, Growth, Stride Consumer Partners)
• ALOHA: Maura Mottolese (CEO, The Cholula Food Company)
• DRY Soda Company: Rusti Porter (Chief Brand Officer, KRAVE and Chef’s Cut Real Jerky)
• GOOD AMERICAN: Betsey McLaughlin (Former CEO, Hot Topic)
• Humm Kombucha: Suzanne Ginestro (CMO, Califia Farms)
• SimpleMills: Amanda Steele (CMO, Agriculture Capital)
• Revolve: Melanie Cox (CEO, Backcountry)
• Urban Remedy: Betsy Foster (SVP, Whole Foods Market)
• USUAL Wines: Namita Malik (CFO & Head of Supply, Cinco Spirits Group)
For more information on Women on Boards (WOB Project), or to become a partner, please visit WOBproject.com.
About Women on Boards Project
Women on Boards (WOB) Project was created in 2020 by consumer industry leaders to increase the number of women serving on consumer company boards while also expanding diversity including race, ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation, gender fluidity. The Project is inspiring a game-changing movement to provide women access to seats at the board table while working in partnership with a consortium of industry leaders in venture capital and private equity to diversify their respective boards portfolios.
The board of the Women on Boards Project includes:
o Kara Cissell-Roell, General Partner, VMG Partners
o Brianna Rizzo Brown, Principal, Talent, Stripes
o Alex Hanifin, Vice President Marketing, the Good Crisp and former CEO Alpine Start
o Melissa Facchina, Founder, Siddhi Shots
o Cassie Nielsen, Talent Partner, VMG Partners
o Sheryl O’Loughlin, former CEO of REBBL Inc. and Clif Bar and co-founder of Plum Organics
o Lisel Welden, former VP of Consumer Product and Marketing, Stitch Fix
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