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,…
How Star Women Succeed
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…
Much More than the Abaya
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….
A New Podcast Featuring Women in Venture Capital
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…
Women Leadership: An Introduction to the Class of 2022
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…
The WSA and Manbassadors Team Up to Survey Student Views on Gender Inequity
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…
Our Mosaic: Stronger as We
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….
Being Diagnosed With Endometriosis Was One of the Best Moments of My Life
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,…
Tolana: Empowering Women by Empowering Mothers
“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…
What Women Want?
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…
Lessons on Empowerment
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…
An Interview with Jeanne Jackson
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….
Class of 2018’s Most Eligible Bachelorettes
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…
Ambitious, Talented and Unemployed
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…
HBS Women Lead in Closing the Entrepreneurship Gender Gap
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…
Skirt the Ceiling: Inspiring Women to Wear What They Love
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…
Onward and Upwards: Marching forward during WSA’s Women’s Week Celebrations
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…
In conversation with Jody Miller: Alternate paths to the top (and why “leaning-in” might not be enough)
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: Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Product Management Summer Internships
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…
The Freedom and Chains of Generation Y
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…
The Next 25 Years: 25th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference
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…
Harvard Business School Elects First Female Co-Presidents
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…
Dear Manbassadors: A blog for men to confidentially ask the tough gender questions
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…
CODE Corner: Profiling HBS Students and Their Side Projects Every Month
Coding at Harvard Business School: An interview with RC Andrea Coravos (Section E) What are you building these days? Last semester, I worked on a couple smaller side-projects. At HackHarvard, Mike Monovoukas (‘17), Yoonju Kim (‘17), and I built a web-app called “MeToo,” which is a crime prevention app. This semester I’m focusing on two…
From Food Delivery to Shower Caps: Advice for FIELD 3 from an EC
By Tamara Zagorovskaya, HBS Class of 2016 This time last year, I joined a FIELD 3 team that was planning to disrupt the food delivery business. Coming from a finance background and never having caught the entrepreneurial bug, I was afraid of taking risks and dreading the forced “opportunity” to start a company at school….
ONAIZAH PANHWAR & THE HBS PENSIEVE: What is your superpower?
By Christine Kang, WSA Director of Content As is tradition, in the HBS Pensieve we ask modest HBS students: what is your superpower? And while they answer, we draw out their incredible stories of perseverance, achievement, and leadership. This week we welcome Onaizah Panhwar (New Section I) to the Pensieve. It was a privilege to…
The first six months of building a startup while at HBS: A reflection
For the past 6 months, HBS EC student Tess Brooks has been building Confi (confi.co), an online community for young women seeking advice on health topics that can be uncomfortable to talk about (OB/GYN, sexual health, mental health, communication, etc.). Here, Tess reflects on her experience as a first-time founder, working full-time on her startup…
Q&A with Lori van Dam, Interim CEO for Susan G. Komen Massachusetts®
In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, HBS Partner & Harbus CMO, Megan Fairbank, sat down with Lori van Dam, Susan G. Komen Massachusetts® Interim CEO, to talk about the organization’s work, developments, and how the Harvard Business School & greater Boston communities can get involved in such an important cause. Megan Fairbank: What…
Amelia Lin & The HBS Pensieve
Written by Ange Winkle (HBS ’16), Women’s Student Association Co-President It’s fair to say there are some pretty exceptional individuals at HBS, and not always, but often, they are too modest to volunteer stories of their world-beating successes. The WSA and The Harbus want to shine a spotlight on the geniuses in the coffee line. On the…
CREATING THE VIRTUOUS CYCLE: CAPITAL FOR FEMALE-LED BUSINESSES
This was originally posted on the WSA blog and appears here with their permission. EC and Women’s Student Association (WSA) VP of Entrepreneurship, Britt Danneman, shares her take on the other side of the entrepreneurship coin – early stage investing. You’ve heard a lot from us in the WSA and in the media on female founders…