The CLUB Silicon Valley announces the successful launch of the Incubator - an advocacy program designed to give senior leaders a boost to help propel their career growth and personal potential.
Seven women were selected for the 2015 pilot program, representing some of the most innovative, successful and renowned companies in the world. Each leader lives and works in Silicon Valley, where the pace is fast, the competition is fierce and resilience and relevance are of utmost importance.
With an average of 21 years of experience, these leaders know what it takes to make it in the real world. As firms struggle to embrace diversity and grow the number of women in the most senior ranks of their organizations, the Incubator is developing senior women to be ready to take the next promotion or attain that next big job.
Erin Brooks Sawyer (Tesla), Jennifer Adams Draffen (Facebook), Michelle Garrison (Synopsys), Alice Katwan (Genesys), Donna Kolnes (Adobe), Katherine Mendonca (Apple) and Mindy Morton (Procopio) formed the inaugural class of the Incubator.
A hallmark of the CLUB Silicon Valley and the women of the Incubator is their desire and drive to give back to others who are striving for leadership excellence. Their professional profile will be publicly available in member spotlights, their advice will be shared via a regular blog and they will be available for speaking engagements, career roundtables and mentoring.
The Incubator was founded by Laraine McKinnon, a long time advocate for women’s leadership, who observed a gap in public recognition for many successful senior female leaders and created the program to address it.
The CLUB Silicon Valley will run the Incubator program on an annual basis. The application period for the 2016 Incubator program opens in October and applications are due on November 30.
For more information on the program and eligibility requirements, please see http://theclubsv.org/incubator-program/
The Incubator would like to recognize representatives from Adobe, Glassbreakers, KLR Consulting, Laurie Kretchmar Associates, LinkedIn, Olive Grove Consulting for their contributions and support, and Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP for their generous sponsorship.