Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire

Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire is President of 50/50 Women on Boards, the global education and advocacy campaign committed to accelerating gender balance and diversity on corporate boards. She is the author of two books on the topic, “The Board Game: How Smart Women Become Corporate Directors” and “Winning the Board Game: How Women Directors Make the Difference.” Both books offer real-world guidelines and profiles of current women corporate directors for helping women seek board positions as their ultimate career goal. She currently serves on the nonprofit board of Thirty Percent Coalition, comprised of institutional investors committed to diversity on corporate boards.

As statewide past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners-California (NAWBO-CA), Betsy led NAWBO-CA’s successful campaign to secure passage of SB826, effective January 2019, the first and only law in the U.S. requiring every public company in California to have at least three women board members before year-end 2021. She previously volunteered on the boards of the Southern California Leadership Network and UCLA Medical Center, and the consumer advisory board for SoCal Edison.

For 30 years, Betsy concurrently has been CEO and owner of Berkhemer Clayton, Inc., a 100% woman-owned retained executive search firm based in Los Angeles that specializes in senior-level searches at corporations, universities and nonprofit organizations. Her firm is distinguished for commitment to advancing gender and ethnic diversity on corporate boards and in senior management positions throughout the country, with 44% of placed management candidates women and 36% men and women of color.

Before founding Berkhemer Clayton with Fred Clayton, Betsy built one of the largest independent public relations firms in Southern California which was acquired by global firm Golin, based in Chicago, to become its west coast office.