How to get on a board: become the person everyone comes to for advice

Women ask me all the time how to get a board seat. The honest answer: it's trust, and it takes years. Here's how it actually happens.

How I got mine

I didn't apply for any of them. I invest in companies, and joining the board is a natural progression. I build companies, so I'm on those boards. And I've been asked onto nonprofit boards because I bring a different perspective on how to get things done.

Every one of those seats came from people I knew. People who valued my opinion. People who came to me for advice and walked away with six pages of notes.

That's the pattern. Nobody puts a stranger on their board.

It's networking, but deeper

Most women who want a board seat know they need to network. What they miss is how deep it has to go.

A board is a small group of people who have to trust each other with serious decisions. When a seat opens, they think of who they know and who they trust. That's who gets the call.

The research says the same thing. Before California's board quota law, 61% of incoming male directors already had a prior work connection to the board, compared with 39% of incoming women (Queen's University summary of the Gopal study). The men were already in the room.

So the best time to start was 10 or 20 years ago. It's much harder if you want a seat in a year. Think about it from their side: you want a brand-new relationship to trust you with their company in twelve months? In the end, it's trust. Who the other board members know, and who they trust.

Become the person others go to for advice, and it will naturally happen.

The path I see at Wonder Women

I've watched it happen for our senior members over and over. It goes in the same order:

1. Friends first. They meet at dinner and actually like each other.
2. Then advisor or consultant. One asks the other for advice. Then they work together on something real.
3. Then the board. By the time a seat opens, she's already the obvious choice. They've seen how she thinks, and they trust her.

Nobody in that story sent a cold email asking for a board seat. It was a natural progression, built on getting to know each other and working together.

Give first, for a long time

When I was starting out in New York and knew nobody, I spent a year giving. I remembered what people wanted and handed it to them. Introductions, referrals, coffee. I was everyone's Santa Claus. I still have those relationships twenty years later.

Boards work the same way. Be generous with your expertise long before anyone owes you anything. Be the person who answers the phone, makes the introduction, and has a real opinion.

Get into the right rooms

I play poker with guys who swap million-dollar deals over the course of one game. Everyone is trying to learn how to pitch. You don't need a better pitch. You need to get to the right table.

For boards, the right rooms are the ones where directors, investors, CEOs and board chairs spend time. But don't just collect business cards there. Go to the rooms that let you go deeper: small groups that meet again and again, where people get to know you.

Ask for what you want

Relationships come first. But you also have to ask.

Gerri Elliott, a senior tech executive at IBM, Microsoft and Juniper, told her close network she wanted a Fortune 500 board and assumed the opportunities would come. "Except they didn't," she told a16z. So she got specific: the size of company, the industries, what she'd bring. She emailed her network and recruiters with a clear ask, and landed seats at Whirlpool and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Your network can't help you with something they don't know you want. Say it. Specifically.

Start where you can

The first seat is the hardest. Only 24% of new S&P 500 independent directors in 2026 were first-time public company directors, down from 31% in 2025. Women were 29% of new S&P 500 directors in 2026, down from 47% the year before (Spencer Stuart U.S. Board Index).

So start where you can: advisory boards for startups, nonprofit boards, the boards of companies you've invested in or helped build. That's where you learn how boards work, and where other directors see you in action.

Once you're in the room: listen first

Being on a board is a lot of personalities, sometimes with different agendas. The best thing you can do in your first meetings is listen. Learn who cares about what, and why. Then speak.

Questions women ask me

How do I get on a board of directors with no board experience?

Start with advisory boards, nonprofit boards, and companies you've invested in or helped build. Build deep relationships with people who sit on boards, become the person they go to for advice, and tell them you want a seat.

How long does it take to get a board seat?

Years. The relationships that lead to board seats are usually built over 10 to 20 years. If you want one in a year, it's much harder, because new relationships haven't had time to build trust.

Should I use a board search firm?

It can help, especially for public companies. But most seats still come from who the board knows and trusts, so the relationships matter more than the recruiter.

How do I get on a nonprofit board?

Pick a cause you care about, get involved, and get to know the people who already run it. Nonprofits value people who bring a different perspective on how to get things done.

Dr. Yao Huang founded Wonder Women more than twenty years ago with a table of four friends in New York. Today it's 20,000 women and 5,000 dinners in 30+ cities. She is also the founder of The Hatchery and a three-time TEDx speaker.