In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, Merline Saintil found herself in an enviable position: board  opportunities continued to come her way. “I didn’t want to say just, ‘No thank you,’ so I offered a few  names of women who were equally capable but needed some visibility to land a board placement.

“Organically, a process was born. I knew I wanted to create a system that would use that process to  prepare, place and propel successful Black women into board positions.” Merline joined forces with long-time friend and colleague Robin Washington, who shared the same passion to provide opportunities for talented Black female executives. Together, they’ve identified and addressed the most common invisible barriers that make it tough for Black women to land board opportunities. They formalized an approach that prepares candidates for success, created a digital platform for ease of access, and at last, BWOB was launched.  

In the first 15 months, more than 150 Black women from the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe joined  BWOB, and the results are now rolling in.  BWOB is truly opening boardroom doors and putting talented Black female executives in their rightful  place: on board seats.