Onboard the Film is currently touring the festival circuit, making waves as it celebrates the untold history of Black women on corporate boards.
A new film co-produced by filmmakers with ties to the Washington, D.C., area explores the importance of having African-American women on corporate boards, and how overall board diversity affects executives at major companies. We are investigating whether it can have such an impact.
movie onboard is currently a touring festival celebrating the untold history of black women on corporate boards.
Shannon Nash, one of the film’s executive producers and chief financial officer of Alphabet’s Drone Wing, said, “What do boards do and why are they important? I don’t think people really understand that, so it’s important to tell this story.” Alphabet, Inc. is the parent company of Google.
Nash said he learned about executives while growing up.
“But no one talks about these people who work with executives who execute strategy and hire and fire CEOs. Frankly, I didn’t know about that until I was in college. ” said Nash, a University of Virginia graduate.
Nash got hooked and gained more knowledge black women on boardsThere, two women, Marline Santil and Robin Washington, decided to host a virtual conference to help others along the path to corporate board membership.
“It was organic. They didn’t come together to start an organization. They came together during the pandemic to help the women they know, the Black women who deserved to be on boards but never got the opportunity,” Nash said.
The organization grew explosively as the founders provided direct one-on-one guidance, including Mr. Santil’s guidance to Nash and others.
Nash then shared his ideas for next steps. “In order to scale this and get the story out there and really reach the next generation of people, I said, ‘We have to make a movie.'”
Nash already had filmmaking experience Award-winning autism documentary It’s called “Colored My Mind.” To realize her current vision, she tapped the expertise of Coffee Bluff Her Pictures founder Deborah Riley and her Draper. Deborah Riley Draper was brought on board to write and direct Onboard the Film.
The group’s decision to produce this documentary was solidified during a birthday spa weekend one week before Thanksgiving 2021. By early February 2022, the BWOB group was heading to the Nasdaq to ring the opening bell.
A lot of research and research has been done during that time. That included the first question, “Who was the first African American woman on a corporate board?”
Although her name appeared in the search results, Nash learned from a mentor that the first black woman to serve on a company’s board of directors was in fact someone else.
“‘That’s Patricia Roberts Harris, I know it,'” Nash said her mentor Barry Williams told her.
The Nasdaq opening bell rang to celebrate Patricia Roberts Harris becoming the first African-American woman to be appointed to the board of publicly traded IBM in 1971.
“Patricia Roberts Harris is the hidden figure on the corporate boardroom,” the film’s co-executive producer Marline Santil said during a private screening of the film in Washington, D.C., about the important work women do. he said, referring to the person who The African American mathematician’s work with NASA and the space program was not widely known until recently.
“Whenever you can really make sure that history is correct, and your arts and crafts help make sure that history is forever present for my children and their children’s generations, you You’re working on a worthwhile project.” Dedicate your evenings and even your weekends to make sure it happens,” Nash said.
After the opening bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange on February 14, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Winner of the Jury Prize at the Essence Film Festival It has been shown at a number of prestigious festivals, with more dates planned.
Looking to the future, Nash said he wants to get the project in front of a wider audience, which is one of the reasons the film was shown in Washington, D.C., on September 22nd. .
In addition to the goal of finding wider distribution, Nash said he has the following ideas:Because we really want the next generation to see this. ”
“I think it’s very important to plant that seed,” Nash said.
For more information about OnBoard the Film, the festivals it’s showing at, and how to support or request a private screening, please visit Click here for screening.
