A new partnership in North Macedonia will connect qualified women with opportunities for senior management positions in the Balkans

The regional organization Women on Boards Adria (WOBA) and the international consulting firm Board Ready signed a memorandum of cooperation in Skopje, North Macedonia, in the field of corporate governance and executive search. The partnership will enable qualified women from WOBA’s regional network to be considered for positions on corporate boards and in senior management at companies in the Western Balkans, BalkanEngineer.com learned from an official WOBA statement.

The agreement brings together two organizations with distinct profiles. WOBA develops a regional network of professionals and training programs for management and board-level roles, while Board Ready is a specialized consulting firm in the fields of leadership, corporate governance, and executive search. The memorandum in Skopje was signed by WOBA’s regional representative, Tanya Mihaylovska Dimitrievska, and Board Ready’s co-founders, Kiril Kolemishhevski and Maria Kumbaroska Vanbesien.

Under the agreement, Board Ready will consider suitable female candidates from the WOBA network for projects involving the selection of board members and senior managers, as well as for building databases of potential candidates. Senior partners at the consulting firm will also participate as lecturers, trainers, and mentors in WOBA’s programs, and the collaboration will cover preparation for board positions and topics related to corporate governance.

This issue is also significant for local businesses, given North Macedonia’s gradual alignment with European corporate governance practices. According to WOBA data, women hold between 15% and 26% of seats on corporate boards in the Western Balkan countries. Among the largest publicly traded companies in the region, their average share is about 19%, while in the highest executive positions it reaches 14.2%.

The first concrete initiative under the new partnership is scheduled for October 2026, when Board Ready will host an online workshop for WOBA members. Subsequent activities will include training and mentoring initiatives targeting professionals from North Macedonia and other markets in the region.

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