MATTER Launches 3.8 to Recruit Women for Healthcare Startup Boards

Only 21 percent of board members of Fortune 500 healthcare companies are women, and only 1 in 7 investment dollars are awarded to women-led startups. There is a clear divide that persists for female business leaders in terms of both access to capital and access to boards. MATTER’s newest initiative leverages its position at the center of Chicago’s healthcare technology community to help address this divide.

MATTER – in partnership with Horizon Pharma, Takeda, the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA), and Northwestern University – is proud to launch 3.8, an initiative designed to help place female business leaders on the boards of fast-growing healthcare startup companies.

“The Chicago area is full of extraordinarily talented female healthcare executives, and at MATTER we work with 200 healthcare startup companies that need guidance and support,” said Steven Collens, MATTER CEO. “3.8 is designed to help female executives gain board experience, and help healthcare startup companies gain valuable guidance.”

3.8 helps place senior, female healthcare executives as independent board members of MATTER startup companies. The initiative, named for International Women’s Day, seeks to increase diversity in the healthcare innovation community and explore solutions to the challenges women face when seeking leadership positions. In addition to board placement, board appointees and businesses will have access to educational workshops and networking events designed to ensure board readiness.

“The women selected for our program are successful, creative leaders in their own organizations,” said Holly Copeland, director, public affairs & corporate social responsibility, Horizon Pharma. “But despite their outstanding qualifications, they had not been afforded the typical next-level opportunities, like board positions. That’s why we’re so excited to be part of this program- to help give these women, and the businesses they serve, a leg up.”

Interested in joining the program as a board member or startup company? Submit this form.