Kathleen M. Franklin
Ms. Franklin is the Global Ethics and Compliance Strategy Leader for the Sony Group companies where she is responsible for promoting a culture of ethics and devising enterprise-wide solutions for
The annual Board Institute is a key way in which DirectWomen fulfills its mission.
Nearly 40% of DirectWomen alumni have been elected to serve on at least one corporate board, with alumni serving on over 210 total corporate boards, since the organization’s inception.
The application for the 2025 Board Institute is now closed. Please email yechevarria@directwomen.org to be notified when our application for 2026 opens.
More than 285 lawyers have participated in the Board Institute over the past 18 years and provide a rich pool of director candidates. Past Board Institute classes have been comprised of General Counsel of Fortune 500 companies, partners at top law firms, and leading lawyers from government and academia. These distinguished lawyers represent a wide range of business knowledge and experience in their industries, which include finance, energy, retail, media, and pharmaceuticals, among others. To learn more about DirectWomen’s Board Institute alumni, visit our alumni biography and resume database.
SUCCESS STORIES
Susan Harte
Susan Harte is an independent member of the Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Chair of the ESG Committee of SusGlobal (“SNRG”), an industrial, environmental and agricultural biotechnology company focused
Sharon Bowen
Commissioner Sharon Bowen was the first African-American to be appointed as Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She was sworn in on June 9, 2014 and served in