The Leadership Foundry was created by Women in Technology (WIT) to prepare executive women for positions as corporate board directors. The gender diversity gap on boards in the Washington, D.C. area is greater than that of the nation. Our aim is to make a difference by assisting women with the necessary information and tools; providing opportunities to make connections; and helping to develop relationships that may lead to a board position. Since 2010, we’ve collaborated annually with Kogod School of Business at American University to research and report on gender diversity and its effect in corporate boardrooms, including publicly traded companies within Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The Leadership Foundry also provides networking and mentoring opportunities in addition to intensive board training sessions, to help foster relationships between executive women and the corporate community. As with any positive change, we know increasing the number of women on corporate boards will take time. But with the societal and structural changes in our region, including an increase in small companies going public, we see significant potential to foster the inclusion of women and improvement of board gender diversity in principle and in practice.