By Margaret Naczek, Milwaukee Business Journal
Milwaukee Women Inc, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the professional development of local women, launched a new database to drive its mission of increasing gender diversity on corporate boards. The MWi Corporate Board Director Database is considered to be the only free, public and searchable database of female executives in southeastern Wisconsin.
Milwaukee Women chair and vice president of sales and marketing at Badger Meter Kim Stoll said the organization found many companies expressing a challenge to find qualified women to sit on boards.
“We said we all know that there are many of us sitting right here. How do we make it easier whether it’s the organizations, it’s the nominating committees, it’s search firms? How do we make it easier for them to find these individuals? That was when we said that is a value add that as an organization we can do,” Stoll said of the new database.
It currently includes entries of 65 women who are part of Milwaukee Women Inc. The database includes a profile and professional summary.
“Interested parties can simply go out to the MWI website and search for a candidate via a skills matrix based on a variety of different factors, industry, functional expertise, prior board experience,” Stoll said.
Stoll has been a member of Milwaukee Women Inc since 2014 and has been on the board of directors since 2015. This is her first year as chair.
She added that the new database is a significant step in the nonprofit organization’s commitment to supporting CEOs, board chairs and nominating committees.
“It really continues to help to ensure that equity becomes a major component of filling a board seat. What we envision is that this database is going to continue to grow as it becomes a more valuable resource and tool for the business community,” she said.