Ziana Kotadia (MBA ’22) reports on the role of men in helping achieve gender equity. As part of the International Women’s Day celebrations the WSA organised a talk with Colleen Ammerman, Director of Gender Initiative at HBS, to discuss the role of men in helping achieve gender equity. For those unable to attend the session,…
Angel Wang (MBA ’22), Nikita Jagadeesh (MBA ’21), Monica Mishra (MBA ’21) and Monika Berankyte (MBA ’22) report on the inauguration of the Women in Tech Initiative at HBS. This past year the HBS Tech Club launched a new group called the HBS Women in Tech Initiative. The mission of this group is to connect…
Silvia Adam (MBA ’21) and Kristian Tran (MBA ’21) report on the celebration of 30 years of Women in Business Conference hosted by the WSA. On the 30th anniversary of the Women in Business Conference with the theme “Inspire to Rebuild,” we had a lot to celebrate: inspiring women that are role models even during…
Farah Azmi (MBA ’21) walks through her journey as a female entrepreneur. Some people say that you are either born an entrepreneur or you are not. As someone who was born into a poor immigrant family, I certainly was not bred to be an HBS student much less an entrepreneur. However, throughout my life, I…
Monika Berankyte (MBA ’22) reports on the experience of two families having a baby while studying at Harvard Business School. Thought business school was hard? Try having a baby while at Harvard Business School. Two families share with us their stories. Adriana Cruz Martins (MBA ’22) and Andras “How does it make you feel when…
Earlier this month, the Women’s Student Association held its 30th annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference. 2021 also marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the WSA. Almost a decade ago, we started to research the history of women at HBS as part of the School’s W50 commemoration. As we interviewed alumni, faculty, and…
Afroditi Xydi (MBA ’22) shares her experience working and being a woman in the Middle East. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. June 24, 2018. I walked into my client’s office and the CEO gathered us all for an important announcement: women in the country now had the right to drive. When he asked how many women had…
Ibe Imo, an HBS Online participant, writes on La’Toya Princess Jackson, an I-lab Venture Program participant, and her life journey that leads her to launch an original ballet production; with resilience and defiance, she confronts norms and reimagines possibilities to create spaces for Black boys and girls. La’Toya Jackson (Princess) was born in Fort Worth,…
Noelia Lombardo Gava (MBA ’22) reports on the EC seminar that focuses on career challenges and opportunities of female protagonists. As we dive into the third edition of this section, it is important to reflect on the amount of single stories we have about female leadership. Single stories told by women all over the world…
Ibe Imo, an HBS Online participant, reports on the remarkable work of Baraa Luhaid to help promote women empowerment in Saudi Arabia through her cycling abayas. Baraa Luhaid, who is only 28 and who participated in the Harvard Business School Online program “Accounting and Finance” this year, has spent six years looking for good trouble….
Two RCs are trying to bridge the gender gap in venture capital, one episode at a time. Rashveena Rajaram and Anvita Dekhane (MBAs ’22) are the co-hosts of the podcast Women in Venture Capital and new venture fellows for Pear VC. They first met during the Venture Deals Summer 2020 course by Kauffman Fellows and…
Five women in the class of 2022 share with us their stories of leadership. There are so many different ways to welcome the class of 2022 and introduce them to the HBS community. We could talk about challenges, uncertainty, connectedness or innovation, but in the end, it all comes down to leadership. Sheryl Sandberg (MBA…
What does feminism mean to you? This is the question that we—the leadership of the Women’s Student Association and the HBS Manbassador Program—asked our peers in a recent survey. The above words and phrases are representative of the over 400 anonymous responses we received from HBS students. Some of these students self-identify as feminists, while…
On February 23, over 1,000 attendees gathered on campus for the 28th annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference, hosted by the Women’s Student Association. This year’s theme, “Our Mosaic: Stronger as We,” aimed to celebrate disparate stories and backgrounds and explore ways in which business leaders can actively and intentionally leverage diversity to drive success….
When it all started The first time I had my period I was in middle school. The end of classes was fast approaching and, after the initial shock of seeing my underwear full of blood, all I could think of was that my summer at the seaside would have been ruined. No more sea bathing,…
“We believe a mother can shape her kids’ lives, and therefore, mothers have the power to redefine the world.” The UN’s fifth Sustainable Development Goal is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. To HBS students María Creixell and Paula Vich Serra (both MBA ’19), empowering women starts with empowering mothers. Like…
As we enter a new paradigm in which the impact – rather than the intent – of one’s actions is becoming the standard by which we qualify sexual harassment, 280 female HBS students – roughly one-third of the female student population of HBS – have drawn on their workplace experiences to weigh in on which…
WSA CONFERENCE & THE 2016 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL RACE SERIES: INTERVIEW WITH HEIDI CRUZ Editor-in-Chief Pippa Lamb caught up with the closing keynote speaker of this year’s WSA conference, Heidi Cruz (HBS ’00) to discuss her views on empowerment, a career on Wall Street, working for President George W. Bush, and her time on the 2016…
CEO Series: On a bench with the lady who caught the ball at Nike From a park bench on campus, Cordelia Shackleton (MBA 2018) caught up with Jeanne Jackson (HBS ’78), to chat about her childhood, time at HBS, ascension to the top of the retail and marketing industry, and some candid advice on relationships….
Andrea McGuirt, Section A What do you think is the most romantic spot on campus? Shad bball courts – “I’ll play you… For what? your heart… All’s fair in love and basketball.” What do you look for in a partner? “Who wants that perfect love story anyway, anyway – Cliché, cliché, cliché, cliché Who wants…
Addie Swartz, CEO of reacHIRE, reflects on how to help the 37%+ female HBS Alums who plan to take a career break to raise their kids It’s a warm summer evening in London, and I’m sitting down for dinner with my sister and one of her friends. My sister is seven years older than I…
Last year Rent the Runway partnered with UBS to launch Project Entrepreneur (PE), an initiative to provide women access to the tools, training and networks needed to build scalable, economically impactful companies. PE took shape as a multi-faceted national initiative that includes this robust digital hub, multi-city events, a venture competition, and a 5-week accelerator…
I have a Pinterest vision board (don’t we all) that is dedicated to hot fire work outfit ideas, but all the photos on it consist of models in perfect lighting and expensive accessories my budget and reality don’t support. Who can actually wear culottes chicly to the office? When can I wear my cocktail dresses…
While the world celebrated international women’s day on March 8th, the WSA had lined up several events to celebrate the entire week. The poignant portraits that adorned the galleries at Spangler spoke volumes about inspirational women at HBS. Gender equality is a tough topic. The strides that have been taken can mean that we take…
Jody Greenstone Miller is a thought leader on the future of work and the Co-Founder and CEO of Business Talent Group (BTG), the leading global marketplace for top independent consultants and executives interested in project-based work. BTG was recently named to Inc. Magazine’s prestigious list of the 5000 fastest-growing companies in America and to the…
CODE Corner: Profiling HBS students and their side projects every month. This month: Bansi Shah (HBS ’17, Section A) shares on Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Product Management Internships for the summer. Anshul Bhagi: Why did you study Computer Science? Bansi Shah: I always wanted to be a power ranger, but given the limited job prospects…
When season one of Master of None was released on Netflix this past November, it quickly piqued the interest of many young adults in their 20s and 30s. I, like my peers, was drawn in by Aziz Ansari’s relatable character; a 30 year old living in New York, processing through his very real professional and…
As a first-time attendee of the WSA Dynamic Women in Business conference, I was blown away by the conference committee’s ability to organize and seamlessly execute a conference of this magnitude on campus. The day overflowed with enthusiasm, inspiration and passion for the future, and there was often standing room only with a sold out…
A word from our Co-Presidents: “It is a real privilege to serve as your HBS SA Co-Presidents. With this privilege comes real responsibility. We are responsible for representing HBS as effectively as possible, both on-campus and outside our community. We are responsible for rolling up our sleeves and working as hard as we can for…
Gender equality is a mission everyone can and should get behind. But sometimes it’s easier said than done. Despite having a clear goal, we all encounter difficult situations, or gray areas, that leave us sometimes confused as to the appropriate, or “correct” action. Continuing their mission of promoting gender equality, the Manbassadors of HBS have…