Three C-suite executives joined Marshall School Dean Geoff Garrett Tuesday May 4 to discuss women in leadership, and how more of them should be on the boards of directors of companies.

Panelists included: Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, co-founder of executive search firm Berkhemer Clayton Inc. and, since 2018, CEO of the nonprofit 50/50 Women on Boards (formerly 2020 Women on Boards), an advocacy campaign working toward increasing the number of women on the boards of directors of public companies; Molly Campbell, a longtime Port Authority executive who now sits on a number of boards and is an infrastructure advisor to the U.S. Dept. of Treasury; and Renee Fraser, founder and CEO of Fraser Communications and board member of 50/50 Women on Boards.

Dean Garrett welcomed viewers. “This is a really important topic for me, personally, and all of us at the Marshall School,” he said. “You all know that Marshall was the first business school to reach gender parity with our full-time MBA class, and we’re aspiring to do the same thing for our vibrant undergraduate program.”

The group spoke about SB-826, the state bill requiring at least one woman on the board of every public company in California, which Berkhemer-Credaire helped get passed, and its effects on the makeup of boards.

They also talked about pathways for women to be invited to join boards of directors, the skill sets they should be able to bring to the table, and why men with daughters seem more open to the idea of increasing the number of women on boards of directors.

Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire on Getting Women on Boards

Renee Fraser on Diversifying Boards

Molly Campbell on What Diversity Means in the C-Suite and What Diversity Means on Boards

Click here to watch the Dialogue.