Women on Boards: Building a Non-Executive Career
Tuesday, 16 September 2025
 
Landing a board role requires more than professional experience – it is about knowing your unique value, mastering boardroom dynamics, and positioning yourself for the right opportunities. Whether you’re seeking your first appointment or aiming to expand your board portfolio, this session will give you an insider’s view of what it takes – and how to get there.
 
Join us for a candid conversation with Déborah Carlson-Burkart, an accomplished board professional, as she shares hard-earned lessons, proven strategies and the missteps to avoid when building your board career.
 
We will look at:

• How to acquire your first board role

• Pitfalls that can derail your progress – and how to sidestep them

• How to craft a board-ready profile and network that opens doors

• The keys to being a high-impact board member

• The role of diversity, equity, and inclusion from the boardroom perspective

The discussion will be moderated by Andrea Ullmann, MBA’10J, IWIB President and
Mary Antenen, IDP-C’16Oct, IDN Ambassador Switzerland.  A networking apéro will follow – a perfect opportunity to connect with peers and continue the conversation.

 

Déborah Carlson-Burkart IDP-C’19Sep. Déborah Carlson-Burkart is an experienced board member of national and international (public, private, start-up and state-owned) companies and chairs the respective NCCs. She started her career as in-house counsel for a technology company in the US, moved to become Alstom’s general counsel for Switzerland and Rothschild’s Trust general counsel and member of the management. Today, beside sitting on various boards and foundations, she is of-counsel with Eversheds Sutherland and is a guest lecturer at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and the Swiss Board School/Faculty Chair for Risk & Compliance. Her academic background includes a law degree from the University of Zurich, the bar exam, an LL.M. from Duke University (USA), and executive education at MIT Sloan School of Management, INSEAD, and Harvard.

Programme
18:00 Registration and welcome
18:30 Interview and discussion
19:30 Apéro & networking
 
Key Facts
When: Tuesday, 16 September 2025, 18:00
Where: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Marsstrasse 2, 8002 Zürich
Tickets: CHF 60 NAA members (paid-up) // CHF 75 non-member alumni and guests
 
Registration: https://infomaniak.events/en-ch/conferences/women-on-boards-building-a-non-executive-career/fd1dfe0d-0ae2-4a74-8c3f-eaf2e899a6e7/event/1495517
 
INSEAD Alumni Association Switzerland
Mary Antenen, IDP-C’16Oct, IDN Ambassador Switzerland
Andrea Ullmann, MBA’10J, IWIB President
Matthias Frieden, MBA’05J, Head of IN-BOARD
Durhan Erturk, MBA 16J, Alumni

events@insead.ch