The "Break into the Boardroom" program, created in 2016, has trained more than 220 female healthcare leaders and aided in placing 56 female leaders onto healthcare boards, according to a March 26 news release.
The program was created by investment management firm Deerfield and healthcare growth service company Oxeon with the goal of finding qualified female healthcare leaders, enhancing their skills and matching them with healthcare boards.
Currently, only 14 percent of corporate board seats at publicly held life science companies are held by women, so there is a strong need for gender equity at the board level.
"We are extremely proud of the program's impact to date and heartened by the growing awareness that boardroom diversity is not just cosmetic or politically correct, but actually just good business," said Leslie Henshaw, a Partner at Deerfield Management. "The success we are seeing is extremely promising, but there is still much work to be done in helping boards source candidates from beyond their existing networks."