By Merline Saintil ·Updated February 28, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… Five years ago, Robin Washington and I started Black Women on Boards with a simple problem: we were both at capacity – serving on multiple boards, fielding opportunities – but we knew so many amazing Black women who were not getting the calls. What began as a single Zoom call in October 2020, bringing together 18 women executives, investors, and board directors, has become a movement to move talented women into positions of real power and help fuel generational wealth and impact. Today, we are a global network of more than 200 senior leaders, convening everywhere from the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to our annual summits, trading insights, opening doors, and holding each other accountable.
The growth has been beautiful to witness. But what moves me most isn’t the numbers – it’s the stories. The woman who landed her first board seat after years of being told she wasn’t “ready.” The CEO who found her strategy advisor in our network. Over these five years, I have quietly helped more than 50 women step into public, private, advisory, and operator roles through BWOB – a purpose-driven initiative that reflects my north star.
Black Women on Boards Rings The Opening Bell® The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Black Women on Boards, today, Tuesday, February 14, 2023, to the podium. To honor the occasion, Merline Saintil and Robin Washington, Co-Founders, joined by Lynn Martin, NYSE President, rings The Opening Bell®. Photo Credit: NYSE Equally important are the allies – investors, fellow board members, and champions from every sector – who show up, lend their platforms, and help us move faster. You can see their faces and hear their voices in our five-year tribute video, and every time I watch it, I’m reminded that progress isn’t just about policy – it’s about people willing to bet on each other.
Here’s what I’ve learned from five years of this legacy work: the best companies don’t just talk about culture and innovation – they invest in the people who make those things real.
“A 2020 study by the Ocean Tomo Intangible Asset Market Value Study found that 90% of a company’s value now comes from things you can’t touch: the talent they attract, the ideas they generate, and the culture they build. In 1975, that number was just 17%. Markets already know that culture, people, and innovation are what matter most. Too many boardrooms, however, still treat them as side topics rather than strategic resources.
At the 2026 Davos World Economic Forum, leaders discussed responsible innovation. Conversations with Symbotic CTO James Kuffner on tech’s role in supply chains and Stanford’s James Landay highlighted a key theme: meaningful innovation depends on combining human talent with technology, not just technical capability. BWOB’s greatest advances come from investing in women and working to design systems and structures that integrate capable women in the workforce.
The same is true in boardrooms. The companies that thrive don’t just check a box on culture. They ask: Do our values match what’s actually happening on the ground? Are we thinking five years ahead, or just five quarters? Are we building a culture where people want to stay and grow? And they invest in people the way they invest in technology, because in 2026, the two are inseparable.
When I remind our BWOB members that “progress requires persistence, and leaders willing to lean into difficult moments can close the gap between knowing and doing,” I mean it. Patricia Roberts Harris became the first Black woman on a corporate board at IBM in 1971. That was 55 years ago. We should be past the firsts by now. But we are not, and that’s exactly why this work matters.
The good news? The talent is here. The research is clear. What’s missing is the will to act.
Here is my call to every leader. Make space for multiple perspectives and engage for the long term, not for the moment. Treat innovation as a mandate. And value culture as currency.
At Black Women on Boards, we’re not waiting for permission. We’re building, connecting, and leading together. And we’re just getting started.
Merline Saintil is a Fortune 100 board director and co‑founder of Black Women on Boards, a global network of leaders opening doors for each other in the boardroom and beyond. She brings a six‑IPO track record, deep tech experience, and a passion for “lifting as we climb” to every room she enters.
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