Initiatives

Preparing for Board Leadership

The OnBoard Accelerator program gets women closer to their goal of serving on a for-profit board. With a focus on raising your visibility as a board candidate, we help you develop the tools to ensure that you clearly articulate the value you bring to the board room.

The program helps you:

Benefits of OnBoard Accelerator:

Support

Take advantage of support and learning in a confidential environment to develop your personal brand and prepare for targeted board interview opportunities

Value

Make your personal value known by obtaining clarity and a greater ability to articulate what you bring to the table. Receive clear, relevant feedback about development needs from our OnBoard Development Committee.

Connect

Increase the size of your personal network to connect for greater visibility and opportunity.

Plan

Take action by creating an attention-grabbing bio and developing a personalized plan to raise visibility.

How OnBoard Accelerator Works

Each cohort for the OnBoard Accelerator class will include up to ten women. Senior executive-level women are encouraged to apply but also those with a significant span of control and influence, regardless of title, can be considered. The selection process includes a written application and interview. All applicants interviewed will receive feedback and suggestions for further development whether they are accepted or not.

The next program starts in fall 2023 and will meet once a month for six months. All sessions will be virtual and will be held on Mondays from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Participants should plan to spend on average, 3-4 hours in between sessions to complete homework assignments.

Participants must be or become a member of OnBoard at the Advocate level. The non-refundable fee of $3,200 is due in full within 10 days of acceptance or by the first session and includes an Advocate level membership. If you are already an Advocate, the fee for the class is $2,900.

The application period for the fall 2023 + spring 2024 OnBoard Accelerator class is now open! 

OnBoard Accelerator Leadership Committee

Celeste Bottorff Retired as Vice President at The Coca-Cola Company where she led corporate reputation and strategic growth initiatives. Celeste has served on both public and private corporate boards as well as boards of several not for profit groups.

Lynne Homrich Lynne Fair Homrich is a change management expert with deep experience as both a corporate executive and entrepreneur. Widely recognized for more than 25 years as a thought leader and advocate for advancing women and girls as leaders, she has founded, led, and been deeply involved in a number of organizations working to achieve gender parity in the C-suite, boardroom and government. Lynne currently serves on the Board of Oak Dental Partners, one of the fastest growing dental service organizations in the country.

Mary Madden Former President & Executive Director of Atlanta Chapter of National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and Former Co-chair and CO-Founder of Women Corporate Directors (WCD-Atlanta). Previously Mary was a serial entrepreneur and served on the public boards of Information America and Synavant as well as the boards of several private companies and nonprofits, such as Atlanta Chapter of the NACD (former), and Books for Keeps (current).

Mary McCoy Retired VP at Hewlett Packard Enterprise where she led worldwide product management for a $4B product line and was successful at driving multiple growth initiatives in technology services. Currently Mary runs her own business as an Executive Coach where she drives growth of individual executives into the C-suite and onto Boards. She is an active participant of the Board at OnBoard.

Rona Wells Former P&L corporate executive with private board experience, as well as a background in governance issues and board dynamics. Rona, a past president of OnBoard, was a leader in founding a national organization to advance women to the boardroom (InterOrganization Network). Rona has previous experience on a private company for-profit board.

OnBoard Racial Equity Accelerator scholarships are made possible in part by:

Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award

The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award, started in 2003, is awarded to the woman board member who has served as an outstanding role model for advancing the mission of increasing the number of women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.

Nominees must currently serve on a Georgia for-profit company board (public or private) or be a Georgia resident serving on an out-of-state for-profit company board. Further qualifications are an overall commitment to professional excellence, attainment of excellence in her business profession or in community leadership, supporting women in realizing their full potential, and advocating to increase diversity on corporate boards. Presented by OnBoard’s premier partner KPMG, the award is celebrated annually with our flagship November event.

The award is named in honor of Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, one of the first women to serve as a director of a major American corporation. In 1934 she was appointed to the board of directors of The Coca-Cola Company, a position she held for nearly 20 years.

 

2022 Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award Dinner

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate OnBoard’s 30th Anniversary and honor 2022 Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Award recipient Kathy Waller! Click Here to see the event details and photos of the evening.

2022 Award Winner

Kathy Waller

Past Award Winners

d-farooqui-mini
2021
Duriya Farooqui
2020
Cynthia Day

2019

Michelle Jarrard

2018

Dr. Julie Shimer

2017

Lizanne Thomas
CherylBachelder-mini

2016

Cheryl A. Bachelder

2015

Virginia A. Hepner

2014

Elizabeth Camp

2013

Phoebe Wood

2012

Judi North

2011

Veronica Biggins

2010

Donna James

2009

Carol Tomé

2008

Celeste Bottorff

2007

Carolyn Byrd

2006

Chilton Varner

2005

Vicki Palmer

2004

Claire Arnold

2003

Juanita Baranco

OnBoard Excellence Award

The OnBoard Excellence Awards are given annually to three female leaders who highlight OnBoard’s mission to increase the number of
women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.

A nominee must be a Georgia-based woman who is a leader within the C-Suite of her company. She is a role model of career achievement and serves on a corporate board, or is building the credentials that place her in the pipeline for corporate board membership. Further qualifications are excellence in her profession as recognized by colleagues and active advocacy and mentoring for other women to build their potential.

 
Join us Wednesday, June 7, to celebrate the 2023 OnBoard Excelleence Award recipients. See Upcoming Events to register.

2023 Honorees

Sarah Butterfass

Chief Product Officer, FanDuel

Nicole Keaton Hart

Chief Strategy Officer, Microsoft Security

Wendy Thomas

CEO, Secureworks

Past Honorees

2022

Erica Hoholick

Laurel M. Hurd

2022 OnBoard Excellence Awards-3

Jolie L. Weber

2021

Vicki Lostetter

Lily Prost

annette-rollins-min

Annette Rollins

2020

Kali Wilson Beyah

Jill Campbell

Dr. Maureen Schumacher

2019

Crystal Hanlon

Brandi Thomas

Susan Gambardella

2018

Lauren Childers

Katharine Mobley

Juliette Pryor

2017

Ceree Eberly

Sloane Perras

Terry Vacheron

2016

Jane M. Elliott

Jackie Parker

Elizabeth (Betsy) Peck

2015

Danielle Lisenbey

Joanne McInnerney

Maureen Morrison

2014

Terri Jondahl

Suzanne Patterson

Michele Sarkisian

2013

Rhona Applebaum

Angie Chattin

Beth Gibbs

2012

Ann-Marie Campbell

Ann Daiss

Penny McIntyre

2011

Debra Kuper

Ann Stallard

Robin Sangston

2010

Phyllis R. Austin

Terrie Jones

Loretta Young Walker

2009

Molly B. Burke

Patricia M. (Trish) Jones

Kathy N. Waller

2008

Barbara Blackford

Peggy McCormick

Sarah O’Brien

Leslie Pearce

Leslie Sibert

2007

Becky Blalock

Kathy Harris

Tasia Katapodis

Amy Whitley

Get On Board! Networking l Connecting Women and Boards

Get On Board! is one of the ways OnBoard is expanding its role as a catalyst to getting more women on for-profit corporate boards. Get OnBoard! is an invitation-only, premier event designed to connect board-ready women to those companies who are looking for female representation on their boards.

How it Works:

CEO’s and board selection influencers of for-profit companies are invited to attend Get On Board!. Board ready women known to OnBoard are also invited. The executives and influencers come to meet qualified women to consider for their own boards or boards they know that need candidates. The agenda for the evening includes both networking time and one-on-one interviews between the candidates and the board influencers.

In addition to introducing board candidates at the event, Get On Board! provides CEOs or board representatives with detailed profiles of these businesswomen who are ready to serve on public boards. The atmosphere at Get On Board! is professional, but is also conducive for getting to know board candidates in a more relaxed setting. The reception is limited to less than 30 candidates and a corresponding number of CEOs and board members to facilitate making connections.

Since its inception, OnBoard has been the leading authority and advocate for the advancement of women in public boardrooms and executive suites. Finding candidates is said to be one of the major barriers companies face in increasing representation of women on their boards. OnBoard addresses that issue with this invitation-only Get On Board! event by connecting qualified women with opportunities and helping them raise their visibility for board and leadership positions.

Thanks to our Racial Equity Initiative Sponsor

OnBoard exists to increase gender parity on corporate boards and to advocate for professional women at all stages of their careers. While the corporate world has made great strides in growing the representation of women in leadership roles, profound racial inequities remain. As it stands, only 3.4% of total board seats in Georgia are occupied by a Woman of Color leader. As such, OnBoard is committed to advocating for racial equity by developing avenues of success for BIWOC professionals both internally and externally.

After a challenging year of compounding crises that spotlighted workplace inequities and drove millions of women from the workplace, OnBoard stands ready to rebuild our female workforce. Founded in 1994 with the mission to increase the number of women on corporate boards and in leadership roles, we are positioned to lead the effort to equalize the corporate environment for professional women in Georgia and beyond.

Led by the Board of Directors, OnBoard develops programs that will further equitable representation on boards across Georgia and the nation through the following initiatives:

To recommend a woman for the fellowships noted above, please contact Lisa Robinson, OnBoard CEO, at lisa.robinson@onboardnow.org.

Stepping Stones to the C-Suite

OnBoard’s newest initiative, OnBoard Ignite, is designed for Director and VP-level women seeking to advance to the next level of their careers. The ideal candidate is 10-15 years away from the C-Suite and corporate board-level work.

 

Click here to see the women of Ignite’s inaugural cohort

How It Works:

With guided instruction participants will explore topics including:

Participants earn a certificate upon completion.

The program includes a one-hour, 1:1 coaching session with an instructor.

These powerhouse executives shared their own journeys to the C-Suite such as during the inaugural session:

Dr. Maureen Schumacher

Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Global Payments

Hala Moddelmog

President and Chief Executive Officer, the Woodruff Arts Center

Susan O'Farrell

Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair of Leslie's Inc. and American Trailer World

J. Noble

Director, Alliance Theatre’s Alliance@work program

Mary Donovan

Owner, DonovanResolution

J. Daniel Cole

Partner at Parks, Chesin & Walbert, P.C.

Irma Shrivastava

Founder/Principal, R2 Strategic Solutions

Mary McCoy

Partner and Owner, McCoy Advisory LLC

Schedule: 

Stay tuned for the dates of our next Ignite session

Virtual meetings are held on Wednesday evenings

+ One in-person networking event

+ 1:1 coaching session scheduled with an Ignite instructor

Cost:

$2,000

Participants:

Open to OnBoard Members and Advocates. Limited to 10 participants who are 10-15 years away from the C-Suite and corporate board level work.

To apply: 

Contact OnBoard Ignite Chair and Facilitator Jo Ann Herold, joannherold1107@gmail.com, to request an informational call.

Jo Ann Herold

Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Herold Growth Consulting

Sarah Butterfass

Chief Product Officer, FanDuel

Sarah Butterfass is the Chief Product Officer of FanDuel Group, an innovative sports-tech entertainment company that is changing the way consumers engage with their favorite sports, teams, and leagues. FanDuel Group consists of a portfolio of leading brands across gaming, sports betting, daily fantasy sports, advance-deposit wagering, and television.

Sarah brings more than 20 years of experience spearheading and executing product strategies, leading product organizations, and overseeing new product launches with a focus on customer engagement. She most recently served as Chief Product Officer at Groupon, where she oversaw the company’s global product organization in developing the future of the Groupon experience for consumers and businesses across all channels.

Before joining Groupon, Sarah was Senior Vice President and Head of Customer Experience at E*Trade. Prior to that, she held a variety of leadership roles at Orbitz.  Sarah also serves as an independent director at NETGEAR. 

Nicole Keaton Hart

Chief Strategy Officer, Microsoft Security

Nicole Keaton Hart has a deep background in cyber security, enterprise strategy, large complex system development and disruptive technology integration.  She brings to board service a keen understanding of risk oversight and the ability to recognize sound risk management strategies.  She can see where technology risk can erode an organization’s ability to meet business objectives.   Most notably, as an example, in a mere six months, Ms. Hart took a situation where there were over 1000 unresolved audit findings and guided the company to take a strategic rather than tactical approach in developing corporate risk management strategies for this Fortune 500 firm in the financial services industry. The outcome was board audit committee and regulatory approval of the strategy which when implemented, successfully reduced risk allowing the firm to maintain its conservative public brand recognition and preserve shareholder value.  

As an example of how Ms. Hart can add value at the board level as a cybersecurity strategy expert, she guided Fulton County Government, one of the most populous counties in the US, in preparing for Superbowl LIII with an integrated cybersecurity and risk management strategy, garnering adoption and broad execution across 170 public and private sector entities including the National Football League and Department of Homeland Security.  Resulting from Nicole’s proactive risk mitigation and governance oversight, the county demonstrated business resiliency to increased global cyberattacks by maintaining a low cyber risk rating throughout the Superbowl LIII event. 

Ms. Hart’s business operations expertise includes overseeing the development and execution of enterprise technology strategies to facilitate cyber and technology risk evaluation during M&A pre-acquisition actions, cloud migration, and digital transformation in financial services, consumer packaged goods, critical infrastructure and software development industries. 

As Chief Strategy Officer for Microsoft Security, Ms. Hart oversees the development and execution of global cybersecurity product strategies to capture new markets, drive growth and innovation, and identify key acquisition targets.  She has held key C-level roles such as the former Chief Information Officer for Fulton County Government and Senior Vice President for SunTrust Bank.

Ms. Hart is a certified risk management (CRISC) and governance of enterprise information technology (CGEIT) professional and additionally holds an Executive Master of Management Information Technology from Georgia State University.  She is currently pursuing an Executive Doctorate of Business Administration from LeBow College of Business, Drexel University, while residing in Atlanta with her family.

Wendy Thomas

Chief Executive Officer, Secureworks

As CEO, Wendy Thomas leads Secureworks to fulfill our purpose of securing human progress via innovative, battle-tested security solutions. She leverages over 25 years of experience in strategic and functional leadership roles, including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Product Officer, and VP Strategy and M&A, and has worked across multiple technology-driven companies such as FirstData, BellSouth, and Internap Network Services, Inc. Prior to becoming CEO, Wendy served as Secureworks President, Customer Success, where she drove a customer-centric approach to help organizations achieve better security outcomes. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia, with a double major in Economics and Foreign Affairs, and she holds an International MBA from the University of South Carolina School of Business. She currently serves on the Board at IonQ, an industry leader in quantum computing. Wendy is an alumna of Leadership Midtown Atlanta, a program designed to propel established leaders to further serve their communities.

Dr. Maureen Schumacher

Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Global Payments

Maureen Schumacher leads a team of professionals focused on strengthening the Global Payments brand in the marketplace and helping grow the business. Maureen designed and heads a marketing center of excellence that oversees all aspects of Global Payments marketing, including brand, creative, advertising, content, digital marketing, social media, product marketing, websites, and the marketing technology stack. With more than 20 years of experience in marketing, Maureen’s focus is on customer and marketing strategies, talent, and tools that deliver measurable performance aligned with global business goals.

Maureen has deep brand and demand experience in fintech from almost a decade with Google, The New York Stock Exchange, and formerly GE Consumer Finance, where she worked in leadership roles while living and working in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Maureen is a Pennsylvania State University graduate; she holds a BS, MBA and studied management and economics in Lima, Peru. She was awarded a Google Fellowship, a highly competitive award granted to employees to pursue her Doctorate, which she earned from Georgia State University. She is a tenured board member, with both nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies, recently chosen for Onboard’s Executive Honor Roll in recognition of her experience, leadership, and commitment to the advancement of women in the workplace. Most recently, Maureen assumed the role of executive sponsor for Global Payments Onyx network, an employee resource group dedicated to the inclusion and advancement of Black and African American team members.

 

Hala Moddelmog

President and Chief Executive Officer, Woodruff Arts Center

Hala Moddelmog is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Woodruff Arts Center. Moddelmog has spent 30 years in president and CEO roles and has served as a corporate director for four NYSE companies and a Carlyle Group private portfolio company board. Her career has been spent almost entirely in Atlanta.

Moddelmog became the Arts Center CEO in September 2020 after serving for six years as the first female President and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, where she represented more than 15 Fortune 500 companies in the country’s eighth largest metro. Prior to that role, Moddelmog was President of Atlanta-based Arby’s Restaurant Group, then a division of the Wendy’s Arby’s group, where she dramatically improved the company’s financial performance, tripling net income.

Previously, Moddelmog served as President and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest breast cancer organization. Under her leadership, Komen achieved its first 4-Star Charity Navigator rating. From 1995–2004, Moddelmog served as the first female president of an international QSR chain at Church’s Chicken, leading the brand through a complete transformation.

Moddelmog has spent nearly a decade serving in volunteer leadership at the Arts Center. She served on the Woodruff Arts Center Board of Trustees from 2011–2017 and has served on the Woodruff Governing Board since 2017. Concurrently she also served on the Alliance Theatre Board of Directors from 2011–2020 and led the Alliance Theatre Board as co-chair from 2017–2019.

Moddelmog currently serves as a director on the boards of FleetCor Technologies (NYSE:FLT) and Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW). Her service in Atlanta’s nonprofit community currently includes the Board of Trustees of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and on the Executive Committee of Midtown Alliance.

Moddelmog lives in Ansley Park with her husband, Steve. They have two adult children, two sons-in-law, a granddaughter, and a grandson.

 

Susan O'Farrell

Independent Director & Audit Committee Chair of Leslie's Inc. and American Trailer World

Ms. O’Farrell is a leader who thrives in industries being disrupted by technology and strategic transformation. She is an Independent Director and chairs the Audit Committee for Leslie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL). Leslie’s is the world’s largest omni-channel provider in the pool and spa supplies and services category. She is also an Independent Director and chairs the Audit Committee for ATW. American Trailer World is a Bain Capital backed company that is the largest manufacturer, retailer, and distributor of professional and consumer grade trailers, truck equipment, parts and accessories in North America.

Ms. O’Farrell retired from BlueLinx (NYSE: BXC) where she was the Chief Financial Officer. During her tenure, she led a substantial financial turnaround, as well as a transformative acquisition and integration. She previously was a senior financial and operational executive with The Home Depot for 15 years. In that time, she served in a variety of capacities, including the Chief Procurement Officer, CFO of the largest division, as well as CFO for the highly acquisitive Home Services businesses. O’Farrell began her career with Accenture, transforming companies’ financial processes, systems, and incentives. She left as an Associate Partner for a strategic information systems role with Southern Company Gas during a time of deregulation and major change.

Ms. O’Farrell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Auburn University and completed Emory University’s Goizueta Executive Leadership Program.

While a sitting CFO, O’Farrell was selected by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as the Public Company CFO of the Year. She was nominated and appointed to the International Women’s Forum in 2017 where she now serves on the Board. O’Farrell Co-Chaired Evanta’s CFO Board, is an executive with the Terry College of Business CFO Roundtable and is a past member of the Auburn University College of Business Advisory Board. A lifelong learner, O’Farrell is an active member of NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors).

An LGBTQ+ ally, she is an alumna of Leadership Atlanta and is active in community organizations that support families experiencing trauma. O’Farrell is the past Board Chair of the Atlanta Children’s Shelter, as well as CHRIS 180. Currently, she is the Co-Chair of the CHRIS 180 Advisory Council. Additionally, she served on the Board of Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, and on the Woodruff Arts Center Corporate Campaign.

 

J. Noble

Alliance@work Program Director, Alliance Theatre

J. Noble has acted, directed, produced, and taught. Known as an authentic communicator with the ability to teach that skill to others, J. has been a popular program facilitator with top-tier national corporations as well as non-profits and educational institutions.

J. is currently the director of the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre’s Alliance@work program in Atlanta. Alliance@work helps professionals and their organizations enhance their effectiveness by merging the fundamentals of communication and collaboration with the process of creating powerful performance. J. teaches people how share who they are and what they do in focused and believable ways to get results, specifically in the areas of strategic storytelling, leadership coaching, emotional intelligence training and customer/experience design.

 

Mary S. Donovan

Owner, DonovanResolution

Ms. Donovan is a registered neutral in civil and domestic mediation.  She is a member of the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution, where she serves on the ethics and outreach committees, as well as the State Bar of Georgia Dispute Resolution section. She is a board member of the Atlanta International Arbitration Society (AtlAS) and a member of the State Bar of Georgia.  She serves on the executive committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), and she is a Master with the Bootle Inn of Court. She served on a legislative working committee with members of the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution and AtlAS. This committee promoted new legislation, the Georgia Uniform Mediation Act, which became law in July 2021. She continues to work on legislation projects.

She previously served as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Mercer Law School, and she served as an adjunct professor and taught Federal Criminal Law.  She also led and taught Introduction to Dispute Resolution, required for all third-year students. 

Before joining the law school, she practiced criminal defense trial and appellate law in Atlanta.

She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Emory Law School.

J. Daniel Cole

Partner at Parks, Chesin & Walbert, P.C.

Daniel Cole represents both plaintiffs and defendants in employment and business litigation. In his employment practice, Daniel regularly advises clients and litigates a variety of matters, including unlawful discrimination, wage and overtime issues, retaliatory discharge, restrictive covenants, and non-competes. In addition to his litigation practice, Daniel has represented both companies and employees in employment contract negotiations, including the representation of high-level executives and physicians in contract negotiations and re-negotiations. 

In his business litigation practice, Daniel has represented a wide range of companies, large and small, in matters involving breach of contract, business divorces, enforcement of operating or partnership agreements, trade secret theft, and employment matters. Daniel understands the value and work it takes to build a business and endeavors to protect the interest of his business clients.

Daniel is a proud double graduate of Mercer University. After obtaining a business degree and working for a couple of years, Daniel attended the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. Daniel is a member of the Georgia Bar and is admitted to practice before all Georgia state courts, as well as the United States Supreme Court, Eleventh Circuit, United States District Courts for the Northern, and Middle Districts of Georgia. Daniel is involved in a variety of community and State Bar of Georgia organizations, committees, and boards.

Irma Shrivastava

Founder/Principal, R2 Strategic Solutions

Irma is a strategic business executive who excels at translating customer needs into innovative marketing and commercial strategies to drive revenue. She is an accomplished brand strategist with expertise leading the development of the growth and innovation agenda, including digital marketing and data analytics for brands. As a leader, Irma excels at bringing forth data-driven strategies that cut through complexity, while utilizing inputs from many data sources and stakeholders to achieve growth. Her broad experience gives her the background to guide growthseeking companies as a board member.

Irma brings experience as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Randstad, the world’s leading human resources services company, where she oversaw brand strategy, digital marketing, and product development efforts to drive growth, as well as crisis communications. She led the development of the digital and data analytics infrastructure and integrated brand campaigns that drove year over year double-digit revenue growth through the effective deployment of digital marketing levers such as CRM, SEO, social, digital media, mobile product development, as well as customer experience.

She also brings experience from her years at Coca-Cola leading the brand growth strategy for large, well-established brands like Diet Coke or McDonalds, and for small, entrepreneurial consumer brands like Odwalla. She brought a visionary approach to many brands to connect with unique consumer insights to drive messaging, innovation, and partnerships to increase sales.

She has an eye for strategic partnerships which are mutually beneficial and where to find the right marketing activation to accelerate growth. At Randstad, she nurtured a cutting-edge partner to attract, develop and retain talent in sought after industries leading to increased revenue. While at the American Cancer Society, she led a groundbreaking multifaceted partnership to provide critical patient services as well as significant revenue to support the organization’s mission.

Irma is on the for-profit company boards of both Health-Ade, a gut-health beverage company that enjoys the strongest category growth, and Employ Inc, a private software company that helps thousands of companies recruit, hire, and retain talent. She is also on the board of The Lovett School, a $70MM independent school, where she is on the governance and DEI Committees, and she sits on the advisory board for the Children’s Museum of Atlanta and Junior Achievement of Georgia. Irma is also a founding board member for 48in48, a nonprofit that mobilizes marketers to serve nonprofits globally.

Irma has a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two high-school aged children.

Mary McCoy

OnBoard Accelerator Chair

McCoy Advisory LLC

Mary McCoy has built her own coaching and consulting business focused on improving performance for executives and driving growth for companies. She thrives at the intersection of technology, people and customer service. Her previous experience as a VP of Technology Services at Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) combined with her training and certifications as an executive coach allow her to bring a unique perspective to her clients. As a Board member at OnBoard, Mary currently drives the OnBoard Accelerator program.

Jo Ann Herold

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Herold Growth Consulting

Jo Ann is a purpose-driven executive and brings more than 25 years of marketing experience. She has a long track record of delivering financial results and award-winning marketing programs that build sales and profitability for iconic brands in the B2B and B2C space.  She has served as the Chief Marketing Officer for The Honey Baked Ham Company twice.  

Prior to Honey Baked Ham, she was the Chief Marketing Officer for Interface, Inc., where she globalized the marketing team and brought forth a highly effective, integrated marketing approach resulting in five consecutive quarters of record financial performance. Prior to Interface, she was Vice President of Brand Marketing and Public Relations at Arby’s Restaurant Group resulting in a brand turnaround and 13 quarters of same sale growth. She now owns her own marketing firm.

Jo Ann has an MBA in International Business from Mercer University in Atlanta, and an undergraduate degree in Communication from Mississippi State University and teaches the EMBA’s at Georgia State. 

A passionate community volunteer and served as Vice Chair of the Arby’s Foundation, whose mission is to end childhood hunger. She has served on the Executive Board of the Atlanta Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and served as the Board Chair.

Her work has been lauded by industry and community groups including the National Diversity Council’s Most Powerful and Influential women, two AMY Awards from the American Marketing Association. She was recently the recipient of the Atlanta AMA’s Lifetime Achievement, as well as the Marketer for Good  award and the CMO Club’s President’s Circle Award.