Notre Dame Partners To Boost Minorities In The Boardroom
CHICAGO -- Chicago United, an advocacy organization comprised of racially diverse CEOs and executive level management who champion corporate diversity and inclusion, today announced a new partnership with the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business Executive Education team to prepare executives of color who seek to become corporate board directors.
Through the first-of-its-kind Corporate Governance Executive Development Program, Chicago United, along with the highly regarded Executive Education team, seeks to assure that African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American executives are well-prepared for directorships. Additionally, the program will benefit corporations as they strive to seat boards that will increase their marketplace competitiveness and help bring them into greater compliance with federal requirements regarding disclosure of diversity and inclusion policies. The inaugural Corporate Governance Executive Development Program will be held this fall on the Chicago campus of theUniversity of Notre Dame. The program will initially be open only to Chicago United Business Leaders of Color and individuals sponsored by Chicago United corporate members. The program is designed to: "This partnership with the University of Notre Dame is an exciting expansion of Chicago United's initiatives to help corporations meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse business environment and rapidly changing global demographics," said Gloria Castillo, president of Chicago United. "Our Business Leaders of Color publication, the fifth version of which will be presented this year, proves that Chicago United can identify executives of color who are ready for the responsibilities of a director. And now, this development program helps those individuals join boards ready to contribute at the highest levels even as the director's responsibilities evolve." The program will draw upon faculty who are key contributors to the Mendoza College's Executive Education program. The program will be led by Jim Davis, who has extensive experience in working with executives and boards. Prof. Davis is a widely recognized expert in corporate governance, strategic decision-making, trust, stewardship, and social capital. The Academy of Management has recognized his research on trust as the best research of the decade. "Notre Dame Executive Education is delighted to support Chicago United in this unique effort to develop leaders of color who seek to position themselves as attractive candidates for board of director roles," said Joseph O'Hannigan, Senior Associate Director of Executive Programs at the Mendoza College of Business. "This Corporate Governance Executive Development Program is the result of extensive and thoughtful collaboration between Chicago United and Notre Dame Executive Education." The Corporate Governance Executive Development Program will be delivered over two sessions, with work required of the participants in the inter-term. The first session, covered in three consecutive days, will provide the majority of the content including After the first session the participants will be given eight weeks to refine and start implementing their individual strategic plans for pursuing directorships. Subsequently, the second session will require the participants to present their progress, obstacles, and insights as they have refined and implemented their individual strategic plans. They will present these updates to, and receive feedback from, their program peers and a panel of senior executives and/or members of corporate boards of directors. A key component of the program is the involvement of CEOs, current or past corporate board members, and other senior executives at specific times throughout the program. These special executive guests, drawn from the Chicago United andNotre Dame networks of business leaders, will interact with the participants and share their insights.
