Athena Alliance and TA Associates Bring Together CEOs and Board Directors to Discuss Leadership Transitions in the Boardroom

Moss Beach, CA and Boston, MA – Athena Alliance, an organization dedicated to helping more women attain board seats, and TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, recently hosted an exclusive event, bringing together more than 60 CEOs, board directors and investors to discuss leadership transitions in the boardroom.

Hosted at TA Associates’ headquarters in Boston, the event included a series of intimate fireside chats where executives reflected on what it means to steward long-term value in today’s modern world. Discussed were numerous topics related to board refreshes, including meeting stakeholder expectations, the skills directors must have to remain relevant and how boards can effectively evaluate themselves. Participants included:

• Brian Moynihan, Chairman and CEO, Bank of America
• Coco Brown, Founder and CEO, Athena Alliance
• George Colony, Chairman, CEO and Founder, Forrester Research
• Devon McDonald, Partner, OpenView Venture Partners
• Colin Angle, Chairman, CEO and Founder, iRobot
• Deborah Ellinger, Independent Director, iRobot
• Brian Conway, Chairman and Managing Partner, TA Associates
• Pam Lenehan, Chair of the Board of Directors, Monotype

“At Athena Alliance, we are passionate about creating diverse and well-rounded boards, and have worked diligently to leverage our expertise in identifying highly-qualified women as independent directors for both the public and private sectors,” said Coco Brown, Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance. “This particular event inspired powerful discussion around the critical need for a wide range of perspectives in the boardroom. While it is never easy to make the tough decisions that a board refresh requires, the leaders who participated have shown that it is more than worth the effort to modernize boards to help ensure that companies are creating customer-centric businesses. We thank TA Associates for hosting the event, and we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with their team, as well as with our other partners, to help talented and aspiring female executives serve on more boards.”

“As a firm, TA Associates believes it is critical for boards to be comprised of executives with a variety of backgrounds and experience,” said Brian Conway, Chairman and Managing Partner at TA Associates. “This event provided an opportunity to bring together a number of top CEOs, board directors and investors to discuss and strategize ways to drive genuine change. We were honored to co-host this event, and look forward to continuing to work with Athena Alliance to support and expand TA’s network of female executives globally, and to accelerate our efforts to build modern, strategic boards comprised of high performing individuals with unique talents and perspectives.”

About Athena Alliance
Athena Alliance is revolutionizing leadership, from senior management to the boardroom. We enable businesses to take on today’s greatest threats and to conquer their most pressing imperatives. And, we empower women to own their value and to step into their most ambitious leadership role yet: in the boardroom, in the C-suite, as a founder, or as an investor. At the heart of our mission: coaching remarkable senior women leaders to fully own their value and to step into bigger roles. We also guide CEOs, venture firms and corporations to evolve their approach to senior leadership development, to strengthen their boards, and to facilitate curated connections to remarkable female leaders. For more information, visit www.athenaalliance.org.

About TA Associates
TA Associates is one of the most experienced global growth private equity firms. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – TA invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $32.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $2 billion per year. The firm’s more than 85 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.