Welcome to Pathway20

We believe there are 14 different ways a board directorship can help in a senior executive’s role and responsibilities – and in your future career.

You can read the full post – 14 ways a board career will help your career – on our Insights page. Also read the question below – Why should I become a board director?

1. Developing women’s careers is good for talent acquisition and retention:

Reap the benefits of increased engagement and loyalty, and reduce costly staff turnover.

2. Diverse board leadership results in better decision-making and performance:
With countries like the UAE setting quotas, and with board diversity and skills widely published, it is imperative to ensure gender diversity on your board/s. It is also proven to improve collaboration, stock returns and shareholder relations.

3. A proactive approach to diversity enhances company brand and reputation:
Commitment to gender equality and inclusion makes your business attractive to new customers and investors – and has a proven impact on regional companies’ ESG ratings.

4. Participants build a valuable network for future business opportunities:
Connecting with board directors and executives creates a valuable network that can open doors to business opportunities and build stakeholder relations.

5. Growth mindset and mentor/ sponsor opportunities:
Pathway20 participants and alumna develop a growth mindset to take ownership of their own career and board advancement. They can also act as a role model and help and advise their colleagues.

6. Investing in women’s leadership improves succession planning:
Ensure your organisation’s stability by future-proofing leadership and creating a steady pipeline of talent to rise to the top.

The 12-week Pathway20 accelerator is expected to take a minimum of 79 hours, broken down as follows:

Corporations nominate and sponsor talented women employees. Corporate women self-finance and join independently.
There are two payments options for Pathway20: a single payment or two instalments.

Corporate packages are available upon request to organisations. Fill in our enquiry form (/pathway20/corporate) and we will contact you within 48 hours to discuss

1. Aurora50 is not a corporate governance centre: we offer practical advice from both senior experienced board advisors and non-executive board directors.
2. Pathway20 has evolved into a single 12-week sprint to quickly bring executive women up to speed with board-critical skills. Content is regularly refreshed and updated as topics, such as AI, evolve. This provides practical, real-world insights into being an effective board director.
3. We provide 1-to-1 coaching in the form of three personalised ‘momentum’ board coaching sessions with a board career expert or coach. This gives participants tailored, individual insights and feedback during every phase of Pathway20. And it helps them to strategically map their board career action plan.
4. We provide a private, exclusive network and ongoing membership to a community of women at a similar career stage. This gives participants similarly-minded executive women to develop and grow alongside as each builds her board portfolio. We also provide access to 20+ board directors, to help participants close the network gap. Aurora50 is well experienced with building communities: we also manage the NOORA network, where corporate women network face-to-face and across sectors.
5. Pathway20 alumna are added to the exclusive Aurora50 board bio pack, which is shared with executive search firms and with board nomination committees looking for talented women.

If you are not UAE-based you are warmly invited to join Pathway20, but you must be prepared to travel to the UAE for the face-to-face workshops (workshops will take place in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi).

Pathway20 was Aurora50’s very first initiative when the organisation began in 2020. We started Pathway20 with anchor partner ADNOC and founding partner Mubadala. Other corporate clients have included AD Ports Group, Al Hilal Bank, Americana, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Emirates Nature WWF, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Masdar and Sandooq Al Watan.

Pathway20 is for influential women from the largest and most distinguished companies in the GCC.
Participants are expected to have:

Yes! Pathway20 launched in 2020 as a year-long accelerator and we ran three successful cohorts in this format. We also ran Gateway as an online programme for aspiring board directors. Based on feedback, we’ve restructured Pathway20 as a fast and flexible accelerator for busy executives. It’s now a 12-week series of workshops. Pathway20 provides highly practical insights on board skills and targeting boards, along with a diploma in corporate governance. In its new format, Pathway20 also replaces Aurora50’s Gateway.

Pathway20 is a blended learning accelerator, combining face-to-face UAE-based and virtual workshops with home learning and one-on-one coaching.
It is broken out into three phases, each four weeks long:
1. Phase 1: Board search & positioning (13 hours, weeks 1-4) Secure the right board seat as a woman executive. Learn to craft a compelling value proposition, demonstrate both expertise and individuality, and navigate the board nomination process with confidence.
2. Phase 2: Deepening governance expertise (13 hours, weeks 5-8) Become a confident and insightful board director. Get to know the complexities of modern board governance and how it affects the GCC landscape.
3.Phase 3: Honing leadership & influence (13 hours, weeks 9-12) Understand the unique challenges faced by women board directors. Learn to become a powerful presence in the boardroom, champion critical issues and collaborate and communicate to drive meaningful change.
4.Alongside the three phases, you can study and take assessments for a corporate governance diploma. This is self-paced for flexible learning. Read more about this below.

There are 11 modules to the corporate governance diploma in total; each is expected to take 3-4 hours. There are also three online assessments to take.
The diploma is certified by the European Qualifications Framework and is internationally recognised and university credit-rated.
It is self-paced for flexible learning: you can take it in as little as 12 weeks or up to six months.
Modules:
1. Introduction to corporate governance:
A clear and concise overview of the world of corporate governance, its development and its importance.
2.Governance architecture:
Develop the appropriate governance structures as your organisation grows.
3.Governance handbook:
Policies, procedures and strategies differ by industry. All these will form part of the board’s Governance Handbook.
4. Reporting:
The information and supporting processes that directors need in order to perform efficiently – in detail.
5. The company director:
All the corporate and fiscal responsibilities needed to make a real impact.
6.Culture:
The importance of aligning the culture of the board with the organisation and its strategy.
7.Strategy:
The tools used, the strategy development and implementation processes and the board’s role.
8.Financial matters:
How to identify and critique the relevant areas of the financial statements that relate to company operations.
9.Risk:
Providing appropriate oversight of risk around the boardroom table and asking intelligent questions.
10. Evaluating performance:
How to initiate and implement an evaluation of a board on an internal or external basis.
11. The non-executive director (NED):
Systematically formulate a personal plan for a career as a director or a NED.

Although board directors traditionally tend to be older (the average age of an S&P 500 independent director is 63), we believe it’s experience, not age, that matters. This is certainly the case in the Gulf region, where managers and executives tend to be given responsibility much earlier in their careers. Aurora50 research has identified that 10-15 years of experience in a senior leadership or executive role is the ideal timeframe before you look to take on a board role. It is also helpful that you have had profit and loss (P&L) responsibility of significant size. If you don’t understand the numbers and you’ve never known the inner workings of a business then, despite your technical expertise, it will be very difficult for you to add value to a board. You may not yet understand financial statements (you can get trained up on that) – but if you’re not comfortable with numbers, it’s just not going to work. You also need to be familiar with the fiduciary requirements of a board director. Pathway20 will teach you the fundamentals. If you’d like to find out all the other ways we think you can ready yourself for the board, read our blog post on the Insights page, Positioning yourself to become a new Gulf board director.