Catapult CEO Dr. Cheryl Richards Named to the 2026 “50 Women to Watch for Boards”
Reading Time: 7 minutes - Dr. Cheryl Richards, President and CEO of Catapult, was named to the 2026 class of 50 Women to Watch for Boards.
- The nonprofit 50/50 Women on Boards picked 50 women from 314 applicants. A panel of sitting directors and governance experts did the vetting.
- The honor means a board-level panel judged her ready to serve on a public company board today.
- Only 13 percent of Russell 3000 companies have a gender balanced board. Two in five still have two women or fewer.
- Honorees will be recognized in New York during Global Summit Week in September 2026, including a closing bell ceremony at Nasdaq.
On July 22, the national nonprofit 50/50 Women on Boards announced its 2026 class of 50 Women to Watch for Boards. Catapult President and CEO Dr. Cheryl Richards is on the list.
50 Women to Watch for Boards is a yearly honor from the nonprofit 50/50 Women on Boards. Each year an independent panel reviews hundreds of applications and names 50 women executives across North America who are ready to serve on a public company board. The 2026 class was chosen from 314 applicants, and Catapult CEO Dr. Cheryl Richards is one of them.
What is 50 Women to Watch for Boards?
A panel of sitting public company directors, board chairs, and governance experts from across North America chose the 2026 class. They were looking for one thing: leaders who are ready to take a public company board seat now.
50/50 Women on Boards has worked toward gender balanced boardrooms since 2010. It also runs the Gender Diversity Index, which tracks who sits on Russell 3000 boards. The honoree list is the group’s way of putting vetted candidates in front of the search firms and nominating committees that fill open seats.
As board leadership becomes more critical to company performance, succession planning, and long-term value, identifying exceptional director candidates has never been more important.
Heather Spilsbury, CEO, 50/50 Women on Boards
The 2026 honorees will be recognized in New York City during Global Summit Week this September, including a closing bell ceremony at Nasdaq. We will be cheering from the Carolinas.
Women on Russell 3000 boards
Women hold about 29 percent of Russell 3000 board seats. That headline number hides the spread underneath it, which is where the real story sits.
| Women on the board | Companies | Share of index |
|---|---|---|
| Gender balanced | 375 | 13.2% |
| Three or more | 1,266 | 44.5% |
| Two | 744 | 26.2% |
| One | 378 | 13.3% |
| None | 80 | 2.8% |
| Total tracked | 2,843 | 100% |
Two numbers matter here. Almost half of these companies now have three or more women directors, which is real progress. At the same time, 1,202 companies still have two women or fewer. That is the gap the honoree list is built to close, and it is why a vetted, board ready pipeline is worth paying attention to.
Who is Dr. Cheryl Richards?
If you have worked with Cheryl, this news probably does not surprise you.
She has led Catapult Employers Association since 2021. Before that she spent three decades in higher education. She was president of Johnson & Wales University’s Charlotte campus. She was also the founding CEO and regional dean of Northeastern University in Charlotte. Today she serves on the NCWorks Commission, appointed by the Governor to help strengthen the state’s workforce.
At Catapult she leads a team of HR, legal, and business experts who support more than 2,300 employers across the country. That work spans HR advice, employment law guidance, compensation research, and leadership training.
Cheryl speaks often on workforce strategy, leadership, and talent. If you would like her at your conference, association meeting, or company event, you can request Cheryl as a speaker to check her availability.
What this means for Catapult members
Here is the part we care about most. Outside directors looked at our CEO and judged her ready for a public company board. That same standard shapes the advice, research, and advocacy behind every Catapult membership.
Board governance, succession planning, and leadership development are not abstract topics for us. They are daily conversations with members who are trying to figure out who leads next.
How employers build a board ready bench
Board ready leaders are developed on purpose. They are not discovered by accident. Most organizations do not have a bench problem, they have a plan problem. The leaders are already there. Nobody has mapped who is next, and nobody has given those people the exposure a board seat later requires.
Three places to start:
- Name your successors. Put a name next to every critical role, then be honest about how ready that person is. Our succession and workforce planning team does this work with members.
- Give people governance exposure early. Budget ownership, audit conversations, and risk reviews are how a strong operator becomes a credible director.
- Train the layer below the executives. Our Learning & Development team runs structured programs like The Management Advantage for emerging supervisors through senior managers.
Pay matters too. If you cannot benchmark what a role is worth, you cannot keep the person you spent years developing. Our compensation research gives members that data.
Strong boards start with strong leaders. Building them is what Catapult has done for employers since 1958.
Common questions
Who selects the 50 Women to Watch for Boards honorees?
An independent selection committee made up of sitting public company directors, board chairs, governance experts, and executive search leaders from across North America. The 2026 committee reviewed 314 applications.
Is 50 Women to Watch for Boards the same as being appointed to a board?
No. It is a recognition that a candidate has been vetted as ready to serve. The program is designed to make qualified women visible to the nominating committees and search firms that fill open board seats.
What is the Gender Diversity Index?
It is the research 50/50 Women on Boards has published since 2010, tracking the gender composition of Russell 3000 company boards using data from Equilar. It currently covers 2,843 companies.
Where and when are the 2026 honorees recognized?
During Global Summit Week in New York City in September 2026, including a closing bell ceremony at Nasdaq.
Can Catapult help our organization build a leadership bench?
Yes. Members work with our Learning & Development and succession planning teams on leadership training, successor mapping, and compensation benchmarking. Start with Catapult’s solutions hub or talk to an HR advisor.
- 50/50 Women on Boards, 2026 honoree announcement, July 22, 2026, including the quotation from CEO Heather Spilsbury.
- 50/50 Women on Boards, 2026 honoree list.
- 50/50 Women on Boards, Gender Diversity Index, data partner Equilar, for all Russell 3000 board composition figures.
Written and fact checked by the Catapult HR Team. Board composition figures were taken directly from the Gender Diversity Index and verified against the 2,843 company total on July 27, 2026. We update this page when the underlying research changes. Questions or a correction? Email info@letscatapult.org or call 866-440-0302.
Catapult is an employers association that has helped organizations solve workplace challenges since 1958. More than 2,300 member employers rely on the Catapult team for HR advice, employment law guidance, compensation research, and leadership training. Articles published under the Catapult HR Team byline are written and fact checked by that team.
