How can women executives better prepare for service as board directors? A panel of women with experience on for-profit boards will share their knowledge at “Des Moines Women in the Boardroom” on Oct. 26.

The executive leadership event, which is open to men as well as women, will be held in Des Moines for the first time this year. It was originated in 2002 by Sharp UpSwing, an Edina, Minn.-based leadership and development firm, and has since expanded to 15 cities throughout the United States.

The Des Moines panel will include three women business leaders who have served on one or more corporate boards: Ruth Harkin, an attorney and retired senior vice president of United Technologies Corp.; Dr. Sheila McGuire Riggs, chair of the Department of Primary Care of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry; and Mary O’Keefe, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Principal Financial Group Inc. Facilitating the panel discussion will be Mary Kramer, former U.S. ambassador to Barbados and a former state senator.

The event will be held at Embassy Suites on the River, 101 E. Locust St., from 3 to 6 p.m., with registration beginning at 2:30 p.m. The two-hour panel presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session and networking.

For more information about Women in the Boardroom, visit www.womenintheboardroom.com. To register online, visit www.DesMoinesWIB2010.eventbrite.com. The cost is $75 per person, or $750 for a reserved table of 10.