The power of mentoring

Lift as you climb

Balance the Board has evolved significantly beyond its original roots.

Today, Balance the Board is not simply about helping more women onto boards; it is about creating more inclusive leaders, supporting talent pipelines, and accelerating positive change through mentoring, development, connection and advocacy.

Balance the Board is a movement and community that exists to create better leaders, better organisations and better boards.

Our work is organised around three pillars:

Connect. Develop. Accelerate.

Connecting talent, mentors, leaders and organisations.

Developing skills, confidence, knowledge and networks.

Accelerating progression, inclusion and board-ready leadership.

Our Vision

We believe that organisations perform better when different perspectives are represented, valued and heard.

Our vision is to create a future where opportunity is not limited for anyone, and where inclusive leadership is embedded into every organisation.

Our Mission

To help accelerate the development of inclusive leaders by connecting people, sharing knowledge and creating opportunities for growth.

Through mentoring, learning experiences, events and meaningful networks, we empower talented individuals from all backgrounds to realise their potential, broaden their perspectives and confidently progress into senior leadership and board-level roles.

We work with organisations to build stronger leadership pipelines, foster inclusion and create lasting cultural change.

Our Values

Inclusion

We believe diverse perspectives lead to better decisions, stronger organisations and more effective leadership. Everyone deserves the opportunity to be seen, heard and valued.
Reciprocity

Our model is built on people helping people. We share our knowledge, experience, networks and time to support the success of others.
Courage

Progress requires action. We encourage individuals to challenge themselves, step beyond their comfort zones and lead with confidence.
Curiosity

We believe learning never stops. By embracing new ideas, different perspectives and cross-sector collaboration, we broaden horizons and spark innovation.
Connection

Meaningful relationships create meaningful change. We bring people together to build networks, share experiences and create opportunities.
Imapct

Everything we do is focused on creating measurable and lasting change for individuals, organisations and the wider leadership community.

Meet our Founder, Holly Addison

Holly is an executive search and talent specialist with 30 years' experience advising CEOs and investors on leadership, board and C-suite appointments with a focus on diversity, transformation, growth and value creation.

Holly works with a breadth of clients from global corporations to founder-led and private-equity backed SMEs, sourcing exceptional talent for senior leadership teams as well as advisory boards. She has a proven track record of supporting organisations to build diverse boards and senior leadership teams with a view to creating more inclusive cultures. Earlier in her career, Holly was the founding Director of a boutique executive search and consulting firm and spent five years working for the Walt Disney organisation in the USA, London and Paris.

She is a qualified executive coach, a Non-executive Director of the PM Trust charity and an active member of the Business Leaders Group for Disability Confident, where she is Chair of the Communications subgroup.

Meet the Advisory Board