Coco Brown was only 24 years old when she was hired as advisor to the vice president at a tech company, where she played an essential role in seeing important projects to the finish line. Four years later, she became a vice president herself, leading the operations of a highly technical infrastructure development firm. Despite her remarkable success at such a young age, she spent many evenings crying in the front seat of her car, wracked with self-doubt.
Now, more than 25 years (and several C-suite appointments and advisory, non-profit and commercial board seats) later, she is the CEO of an organization helping other women overcome their imposter syndrome, and secure leadership positions within their industries. Despite all of the evidence establishing the financial benefits of increased diversity on boards and in senior management positions, women are still significantly underrepresented. As of 2023, women hold less than one quarter of all board seats globally.