Around the table
Generally speaking, those sitting around the table share a few commonalities.
Established
Women with a seat at the table.
Generally C-suite level (or equivalent), but not always.
Generally operators or past operators who have established themselve in their domain as opposed to self-appointing (ie CXO-Founders with no prior operating experience in that domain don’t meet the criteria, but those who held other Exec roles before Founding, absolutely do).
If you are between roles, you are still eligible if your last or next role was/is at executive level. Your title need not necessarily be C-suite (we all know how titling works at tech orgs..) but you should shoulder an at least equivalent level of responsibility - and have at least the same level of influence on the company - as someone at C-level in e.g. a smaller/earlier stage org.
That is because this is not a mentorship or learning network - this is a peer group, and water seeks its own level.
In Tech
The experience of working in Tech* is unique, and is what we each know and understand best.
*Tech as a term can mean a bunch of things.
What we mean by it, is start-ups and scale-ups in fast growing businesses, usually VC backed (but not always), i.e. not large or well-established corporates or small businesses.
These businesses can be in a wide range of industries, verticals and have different types of customers and consumers, but generally share a desire to scale rapidly toward an exit event by disrupting an existing industry (and more rarely, creating a new category).
In London*
(For now).
*It isn’t important which postcode you choose to live in, as long as you are routinely in central London for work during the week and can make it to in person meet-ups.
In-person interactions are important to building meaningful relationships.
Plus, it’s fun to get together and take up some physical space.
We will be gathering women in person around the table to get to know each other regularly, so we are gathering those based in London for life or work to begin with.
Outspoken
We're actively looking for women to join us who are not afraid to use their voice, or who have a track-record of doing just that.
Unlike many other groups, we're a Board Room for women who already have a seat at their table.
Our focus is on celebrating, sharing, and ultimately improving the experience of being a senior professional woman. For ourselves, for others around us, and for those who succeed us.
To do that, we’ve got to be willing to use our seat at the table and make ourselves heard.
Progressive
Pulling in the same direction.
Dissent is healthy, and diverse opinion and discussion create the best outcomes.
Yet regardless of overall politics, we want to gather women whose views are generally progressive, and who are pulling in the same direction rather than debating the academics of the map.
This is because we don’t believe a group that holds fundamentally polarised views on the type of matters that affect women in our positions can be a safe environment to build relationships in, or effect change with focus.
If we don’t agree on what we want, we can’t make it happen(ed).
Apply to join
If that sounds like you, please pop your details in this form and we’ll be in touch very soon.
We have no set limit on how many women we can seat at this point, but we don't strive to become a huge network either. To keep the starting group small and manageable while we find our way, we'll start getting together when we're at 8-10 women and play it by ear from there.