About Us
Enabling the creation of inclusive boards for businesses faster, accurately and economically
Today 17% directorships belong to minorities (with only 6% minority women representation) though comprising 40% of the US population and LGBTQ+ representation stands at 0.1%. Imagine a world where your board and executive team reflects the diversity of your customers and drives true, sustainable impact. A world where finding the perfect mix of experience and future-focused talent is swift, efficient, and aligns with your values.
theboardiQ makes this a reality. Our cutting-edge, zero-code platform unlocks a global network of ready-now and future-ready leaders, experts in inclusion, sustainability, tech innovation, and transformation.
We are on a mission to achieve égalité, a state of true equality. By building more egalitarian boards and executive teams that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the World Economic Forum's vision, we pave the way for a more just and equitable future.
But it's not just about values. Our platform is faster, more accurate, and more cost-effective than traditional methods. We leverage AI-powered insights to streamline the search process, saving you valuable time and resources.
Are you ready to unleash the full potential of your board and executive team? Discover how we can help you build a board and executive team that is diverse, future-proof, and drives positive change.
Our Story
theboardiQ was born out of Smitashree Menon (Smita), Founder and CEO's own experiential and immersive experiences in corporate leadership roles at Motorola (Motorola Inc, Motorola Google, Motorola Lenovo including serving on their India legal entity boards), MetLife, Sun Microsystems and IBM as well as doing executive search in the valley, to make a difference in getting gender, under-represented minorities, LGBTQ+, differently abled and veterans into positions of influence and power for board and executive roles.
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The name "theboardiQ" (iQ signifying intelligent and inclusive boards) was a gift from Frank Orozco, CTO at Slickdeals, a Goldman Sachs investee company, who she helped hire. Frank is of Latino origin and currently serves on an Advisory capacity with theboardiQ.
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Her chance meeting with two fellow Sun Alumni at a Sun Reunion in the Bay Area in 2019, helped onboard them on to the Technical Advisory Board at theboardiQ. Shantanu Gudihal, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, has authored AI playbooks that have generated more than $100 Million in revenue and has had a successful exit with MeshLabs that was acquired by Pega Systems. Bharath Mundlapudi, CEO at Enterprise Minds, was one of the original brains behind the source code of Hadoop at Yahoo and has worked at Netflix before starting his own entrepreneurial journey.
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Smita's humble efforts in launching theboardiQ Hall of Fame in late 2020, with the clear intent to move the needle in recognizing and shining the spotlight on the best under-represented executive talent, has met with success and harnessed 600+ Media Press Releases, 40+ Official Corporate Communication Releases | 20000+ LinkedIn Likes | 1,000,000+ views | 500+ Tweets and Retweets.