Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire

For 26 years, Betsy has co-owned Berkhemer Clayton, Inc., a retained executive search firm based in Los Angeles, specializing in senior-level and board searches for corporations, universities and nonprofit organizations. The 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.

Starting in 2018, she also became CEO of the nonprofit 2020 Women on Boards, the leading global education and advocacy campaign committed to increasing the number of women directors on public company boards of directors. A 501c3 research and education nonprofit, 2020WOB produces the annual Global Conversation on Board Diversity in more than 30 cities every November, and Get on Board! Interactive workshops. She is the author of two books, “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 to help women seek board positions as their ultimate career goal.

As a statewide board member of the National Association of Women Business Owners-California (NAWBO-CA), Betsy led the successful NAWBO-CA campaign to secure passage of SB 826, 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 served on the boards of the Southern California Leadership Network and UCLA Medical Center, and the consumer advisory board for SoCal Edison.

Before founding Berkhemer Clayton with Fred Clayton, Betsy built one of the largest independent public relations firms in Southern California, which was acquired by Golin. She is a UCLA graduate and lives in the historic Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles. The Berkhemer Clayton and 2020WOB offices are located in Downtown Los Angeles.