Jill Bruning

A seat on a corporate board was not in Jill Bruning’s sights as she was honored in 2011 with the Women In Technology (WIT) Corporate Commercial Leadership Award.  The award recognizes women who have excelled as mentors, leaders and role models in their professional endeavors and communities, and embody the WIT mission.  The award was Jill’s introduction to WIT and through it she learned about The Leadership Foundry.

At that time, Jill was Chief Operating Officer at the technology solutions provider, NJVC and was widely respected as a technology pioneer leader and innovator in the intelligence community.  This was a time when she was seeing more opportunities for women to be in the forefront in this industry as they “were moving up through the cracks in the ceiling”

While Jill had served on non-profit boards, she saw participation in the inaugural class of The Leadership Foundry as an opportunity to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of corporate board members.  She particularly wanted to learn about corporate governance, fiduciary responsibilities and potential liabilities faced by board members. The Leadership Foundry program included a Governance Workshop delivered by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).  This was a key factor in Jill’s decision to participate.

 “I took away an enhanced knowledge of the roles and requirements for board service,” Jill said in a recent interview when asked about the NACD workshop.  In addition, Jill found overall The Leadership Foundry program provided ideas on how to position herself for a board seat.

Soon after completing The Leadership Foundry 2012 program, she was exploring a job change.  While interviewing for a senior position with URS (acquired by AECOM), she was asked whether she had experience serving on a corporate board as the role included serving on the boards of URS/AECOM subsidiaries.  Jill’s board training from her participation in The Leadership Foundry gave her the edge for this position and an offer was extended.

Since 2013, Jill has served as a board director on the URS Federal Projects, Inc. EG&G Materials, Inc. and the Washington Demilitarization Company in the areas of Governance and Finance.

More recently, she was appointed to the board of AECOM Government Services, PTY, LTD based in Australia.   The Leadership Foundry program added value for this international assignment,  “Australian corporate governance differs from governance requirements in the US.  I was able to go back to my NACD notebook from the program and understand the right questions to ask.” she remarked.

Looking forward, Jill indicated she will pursue external board position opportunities.

“The Leadership Foundry made me aware of the value of serving on a board and the expertise I could bring as a corporate director.  In addition, I found a network of peers to share experiences and support,” Jill concluded.

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Interested in the possibilities of board service?  Explore www.TheLeadershipFoundry.org to learn more about The Leadership Foundry and how it can support your objectives.