illumyn Impact 2025 Impact Report

Impact Report November 2025 | illumynimpact.org

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Letter from Our CEO Dear Friends, This year, the board economy mirrored the global economy — with headwinds from economic volatility, government funding disruptions, and political instability. Despite this, illumyn Impact continues to navigate toward opportunity. We do this by meeting firms where they are, adapting to investment patterns and market momentum while continuing to expand the reach of our network.

broader truth: as AI reshapes every industry, boards across all sectors will need directors fluent in its opportunities, risks and implications.

We illuminate multiple pathways to the boardroom that connect trusted introductions to board seats, advisory roles, and thought-leadership opportunities.

These pathways illustrate how access and alignment open doors for leaders and companies alike, fueling impact across the board economy.

Of the nearly 9,000 leaders in our board talent network, the vast majority are referred by CEOs, board members, and investors who recognize the value of trusted introductions. This referral-driven growth reflects both confidence in our work and the ongoing demand for exceptional board talent.

Each introduction, board and advisor placement, and curated event underscores the resilience of our model and the strength of our relationships. As we look ahead, illumyn Impact will continue to ensure that capable, forward-thinking leaders are shaping the decisions that define the next chapter of growth.

We also advance critical efforts at the intersection of boards and AI. Our study with the California Partners Project and Crunchbase highlighted the ongoing gap in representation on AI company boards. In parallel, insights gathered at our Roundtables underscored a

Onward!

illumyn Impact 2025 Impact Report

Jocelyn Mangan Founder & CEO, illumyn Impact & illumyn

Jocelyn Mangan Founder & CEO, illumyn Impact & illumyn illumynimpact.org

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Letter from Our Board Chair Dear Friends and Partners, illumyn Impact exists to diversify the board ecosystem — ensuring that private-company boards benefit from a broad range of perspectives, lived experience, and thoughtful leadership. That mission has never been more urgent.

Our recent study with the California Partners Project and Crunchbase — Who Is Governing AI Companies? — found that nearly half of California’s AI startups have all-male boards. In an era when AI systems shape our economy, politics, and daily lives, this lack of diverse oversight isn’t just an equity issue — it’s a risk issue.

AI is rewriting the rules of business and society.

The question is: Who is writing the rules for AI? illumyn Impact was founded to address this imbalance. We connect exceptional, undernetworked leaders with board opportunities where their expertise and perspectives are most needed — particularly in

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fast-moving industries like AI, climate tech, and healthcare innovation.

This moment calls for decisive action. We’re expanding our network of board-qualified leaders, deepening partnerships with forward-thinking investors and companies, and building the data and visibility tools to drive lasting change.

To advance this work, we invite your partnership: support our mission, nominate board-qualified leaders, and collaborate with us on data-driven insights and impact initiatives.

AI will define the next decade of progress. Together, we can ensure it’s governed by the full diversity of human intelligence — not just a narrow slice of it.

With gratitude and resolve,

Joanna Rees Board Chair, illumyn Impact & illumyn

Joanna Rees Board Chair, illumyn Impact & illumyn illumynimpact.org

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Our Team

Board of Directors

Joanna Rees

Jocelyn Mangan Founder & CEO

Fiona Tang Co-Founder & COO

Ann Shepherd Co-Founder

Crista Bailey Chief Business Development Officer

illumyn Impact & illumyn, Board Chair West, FICO

Mike Xenakis Joy 101

Dara Khosrowshahi Uber

Navin Chaddha Mayfield

Francisco AlvarezDemalde

Riverwood Capital

Advisors Cookie Veconi Chief of Staff

Louise Trezzo Senior Director, Partnerships

Rebecca McIntire Head of Board Introductions

Ximena Vivanco Director, Programs

Isaac Applbaum

Danielle Applestone

Sheila Lirio Marcelo

MizMaa Ventures

Ruth Dewa Ayu Director, Events

Hang Nguyen

Program & Events Associate

Alessandra Simons

Lisa Skeete Tatum

Jeff Weiner

Philip Chow

Scott D. Miller

Cherryrock Capital, HP, StockX, Coactive

Foundry, Techstars

Greylock, Microsoft

Suzanne Soares CBDO, illumyn

Ohai.ai

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Reid Hoffman

Bessemer Venture Partners, Quizlet, KQED

Stacy Brown-Philpot

Brad Feld

Applestone Consulting

Shannon Brayton

Freshfields

Landit

LinkedIn, Next Play Ventures

Humanitas AI

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G100

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Our Vision

illumyn Impact, together with our public benefit corporation illumyn, diversifies the board ecosystem and shapes the future of innovation.

The boardroom serves as a catalyst for transformative societal and economic progress, and illumyn Impact connects the people and ideas that make those transformations possible — one board seat at a time.

Over the last seven years, we’ve facilitated more than 86,000 warm connections to bring new perspectives into the closed board ecosystem.

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We’ve: • collaborated on over 3,000 board ecosystem opportunities, • hosted over 275 events, • facilitated 190+ women serving on boards and advisor roles directly from our work, • demystified the board journey for 150+ illumyn Boardroom Excellence Fellows.

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Those Who Govern AI Shape the Future illumyn Impact recently completed a study in collaboration with Crunchbase and California Partners Project which revealed a significant lack of gender diversity in the governance of AI startups. Our research included more than 140 companies and analyzed the boards of 102 privately held AI companies based in California with at least $50 million in cumulative funding. It revealed women make up only 15% of these boards. More than 40% lack any female directors. illumyn Impact + California Partners Project + Crunchbase

Women hold just 15% of private AI board seats; 43% of boards are all male

WHY IT MATTERS

Diverse boards mean more responsible AI

1

Average number o f women per p rivate California-based AI board

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Read our study

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Our Moonshot AI Initiative

OUR IMPACT

While governments will eventually play a role, right now AI’s direction is being shaped in boardrooms. Too few of those boards include leaders with AI expertise — or reflect the diversity of the people this technology will impact for generations to come.

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We’re closing both gaps — connecting 140+ AI companies with independent directors and providing 800+ AI executives visibility across boards shaping the future.

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The Path to the Boardroom is Built on Trust At illumyn Impact, we believe boardrooms — and the ecosystems around them — thrive when new voices are heard and trusted in places where they can lead.

We’ve designed six high-impact pathways that serve both board-qualified talent and the firms and companies seeking experienced, futurefacing leaders.

These connection strategies shift how boardrooms are built.

Roundtables Board Director Roles

Advisory Roles Speaking Engagements

Strategic Introductions

PeerNominated Business Leaders

Exclusive Event Access

“illumyn Impact brought us inspiring connections and meaningful conversations that perfectly aligned with Aloqia’s mission.

We’re thrilled to have Kathy Leake join our board and to keep building on the ideas this partnership sparked.”

— Stephanie Benedetto, CEO, Aloqia

Make meaningful connections that develop into board leadership

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Investors, Board Members & CEOs Discover undernetworked, boardqualified leaders

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The Ripple Effect of Our Introductions We connect board-qualified executives with CEOs, investors, and board directors seeking relevant industry insight and fresh perspectives.

“As an illumyn Fellow, access came with context, and that made every introduction catalytic. The result was real momentum — from board opportunities to strategic collaborations — with ripple effects still compounding.”

Conversations often start with curiosity — exploring a new market, audience, or challenge — and evolve into enduring partnerships: due diligence support, operating partnerships, as well as board and advisory roles.

It’s how we seed long-term collaboration across the board ecosystem — well before a formal role is even on the table.

Breanna Zwart Senior Director Business Development, Microsoft

30+

introductions to investors, CEOs and board directors

illumyn Fellow - Cohort 4

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We’ve facilitated over 86,000 warm connections to bring women and undernetworked leaders into the closed board ecosystem.

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From Introductions to Board Directors & Advisors When Climate Pledge Fund connected us with portfolio company Hippo Harvest to explore independent and advisory needs, we partnered closely with founder Eitan Marder-Eppstein to define three high-impact profiles for their next phase of growth. Through a focused introduction process, we connected Eitan with multiple strategic industry leaders who quickly became trusted advisors and continue to guide the company — including Anna Fabrega, who has since joined the board.

190+

Board and Advisor appointments to date

“illumyn Impact delivered exceptional connections that have transformed our business. They introduced us to a board member who has been hugely impactful, along with knowledgeable industry contacts and other high-value relationships that continue to provide tremendous value.”

— Eitan MarderEppstein, Founder, Hippo Harvest

Anna Fabrega, Former CEO, Local Bounti; Board Director, American Public Education

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Signature Roundtable Events We host off-the-record, highly curated conversations that bring together CEOs, directors, investors, and board-qualified leaders. These gatherings are intimate, high-trust discussions on board leadership, governance, and emerging topics like AI — fostering vulnerability, shared learning, and relationships that lead to strategic collaboration and board leadership.

“Creating space for authentic, high-impact conversations is an art — and this is where our partnership with illumyn Impact shines. Through these intimate, curated dinners, we unite leaders from across the ecosystem to share, connect, and inspire one another. Each guest leaves not just with new ideas, but with relationships that spark meaningful, lasting change.”

— Sandra Schwarzer, VP, Talent, Index Ventures

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192 total roundtables convened illumynimpact.org

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New Roundtable Hosts for 2025

Anna Jones

Dawn Marriott

CEO, The Telegraph Media Group; Board Director, Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Mercuri

Chair, Hg, Geomatikk, team.blue; Board Director, Azets, Citation, JTC Group

Peng Zhao

Francisco AlvarezDemalde

CEO, Citadel Securities

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital

Carla Vernón CEO, The Honest Company

Anish Melwani Chair & CEO, LVMH

Kimberly Blackwell

Founder & CEO, PMM Agency

Ken Ohashi

Marla Blow

Susan Hooper

CEO, Brooks Brothers; Board Director

CEO, Skoll Foundation; Board Director, Etsy, Square Financial Services

Co-Founder, Chapter Zero; Board Director, Uber UK, Moonpig

Vicky Moffatt

Michael Labriola

Karen McClellan

Sean Mendy

Founding Partner, Westbound Equity Partners

CEO, Chapter Zero

Partner, Wilson Sonsini

Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business

See all hosts illumyn Impact 2025 Impact Report

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Influential Event Access and Presence We invite high-impact executives from our network to attend and speak at partner-hosted events — bringing diverse perspectives, lived expertise, and board-qualified presence into rooms where decisions are made. For our partners, this presence sparks new connections, deepens conversations, and accelerates innovation across portfolio companies and investment networks.

“I’m smiling as I write this, all of these doors opened because of the community you have built.

I’m grateful for everything you do to champion leaders like me.”

— Melinda Davenport, Board Director, Boston Common Golf; VP, Equinix illumyn Fellow - Cohort 4 Jocelyn Mangan, Mike Frandsen and Susan Chapman-Hughes, Generation Investment Management’s System Positive Summit, 2025

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Partnerships that Amplify Across Networks Our first two summits to redefine what board leadership looks like were co-hosted in partnership with J.P. Morgan. We brought together our network of leaders, investors, sitting board directors, as well as Fellows from our public benefit corporation, illumyn.

Jing Ulrich, Vice Chairman, Investment Banking, J.P. Morgan; Paul Judge, Chairman & Managing Partner, Open Opportunity Fund

Through bold conversations our speakers and panelists authentically shared their experiences on the path to the boardroom, AI governance, and established valuable new connections. Each event culminated in powerful networking receptions that sparked action – driving pathways for new leaders into the board ecosystem.

“Thank you for hosting such an incredible Summit last week. I am so happy I could join the event. The conversations resonated so strongly especially around board readiness, trust, and alignment. I came back truly supercharged.”

— Deepika Chopra, CEO, AlphaU AI

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Demystifying the Boardroom

The Boardroom View CEO Summits:

Partner Events & Conferences:

Speaking Engagements:

Editions of The Boardroom View:

34 12

9

22

Conferences:

65

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Our impact extends beyond introductions.

Through The Boardroom View newsletter and our signature programs, we demystify the board landscape and equip leaders — and the firms that seek them — with the insight to understand, access, and thrive in the boardroom.

Together, these efforts expand access, deepen understanding, and accelerate change across the board ecosystem.

Programming includes demystifying the boardroom, qualities of MVP board members, as well as emerging AI governance and the AI landscape.

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Investor Partnerships FOUNDING PARTNERS

“illumyn Impact has been fantastic for us. It’s not about checking the box to fill a certain board role.

The illumyn Impact process fosters getting to know a candidate both professionally and personally, which really highlights the value an individual can add.”

— Joe Osnoss, Managing Partner, Silver Lake

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Investor Partnerships GOLD ALLIANCE PARTNERS

“illumyn Impact facilitated introductions to Fortune 500 CHRO talent & to healthcare operators for recent and separate events — all adding valued perspective at these intimate, important gatherings for our portfolio.”

— Anthony Woolf, Partner, Generation Investment Management

SILVER ALLIANCE PARTNERS

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Investor Partnerships COLLABORATORS

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Our Talent Network BOARD QUALIFIED TALENT

FREQUENTLY REQUESTED COMPETENCIES

8875+

GTM/ Marketing

RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY OF OUR NETWORK

Technology

Healthcare

AI

Audit Chair/CFOs

2235+ leaders

2650+ leaders

2000+ leaders

7% 13.8% 3.2%

AAPI Black Latine

13.5%

Scaling/ Scale

1515+ leaders

SaaS

1465+ leaders

832+ leaders

720+ leaders

Other People of Color

70% of talent network is C-suite, President, GM and EVP illumyn Impact 2025 Impact Report

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illumyn illumyn, our public benefit corporation, elevates undernetworked executives into the boardroom through a flagship program, the Boardroom Excellence Fellowship, unlocking board visibility, opportunity, and access for top corporate leaders.

150+ Boardroom Excellence Fellows across world-leading corporations including the following:

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Sheila Lirio Marcelo, CEO & Founder, Ohai.ai; Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America; Our CEO & Founder, Jocelyn Mangan

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Our Finances This year’s financials reflect both resilience and discipline. We maintained steady personnel costs and proactively reduced expenses by 22% to safeguard organizational stability.

By deepening engagement across investor partnerships, corporate sponsorships and sharpening operational discipline, illumyn Impact is working across philanthropic challenges to sustain our mission and impact responsibly.

Our aim is to head into 2026 with funding that fuels our AI initiative, integrates AI within our operations, and creates a foundation for impact.

October 2024 - September 2025 2023 Ending Cash: $1,794,570 Revenue: $2,670,915 49% Donations 29% Earned Income: Partnerships 8% Earned Income: Referrals 15% Other

Expenses: $2,947,560 66% Personnel 34% Other programmatic and operational expenses

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Grateful to Our Supporters Founding Funders Circle

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Dara Khosrowshahi

Anonymous Yumi Hosaka Clark & John Clark The Xenakis Family

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Anonymous Alvarez Demalde Werthein Foundation Asmau Ahmed Daniel Chait Sarah Grover Justin Jacobs Olivia Kirtley Camellia Koleyni Lazar Family Foundation Hideto Nishitani Scott D. Miller Vanessa Pegueros Laura Peterson Amy Rice The Sands Family Danny Shader Tracey Strauss Gail Tifford Teresa Torres

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The Reid Hoffman Foundation GIF T S OF $10 0 , 0 0 0 +

Breyer Family Foundation Anchor Point Foundation Brad Feld & Amy Batchelor GIF T S OF $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 +

Anonymous Brayton Family Charitable Fund GIF T S OF $10 , 0 0 0 +

Anonymous Anne Devereux-Mills Jes Wolfe

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Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Maria Davlantes KFF via Trustee Sue Siegel Rashida Hodge Barry Lawson Williams Alessandra Love Audrey & Danny Meyer RobyDodd Family Charitable Foundation, Inc. Travel + Leisure via Denny Marie Post Women for Economic and Leadership Development via Melinda Davenport Jen Zhu Scott

Corporate J.P. Morgan Silicon Valley Bank Artyc Ashby Workshops | Fathom BioLife Solutions BTS Bioenergy Confidante | Gallagher Cooley Debevoise & Plimpton Egon Zehnder Evercommerce Goodwin Law Hippo Harvest Huddle Up Kueski Moontower Group Mysten Labs Natural Gas Services Group Riviera Partners Shift4 Payments TradeCafe

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Together we’re building better boards, better companies, and a better future.

Your partnership fuels this mission — every contribution expands what’s possible.

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