FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-- Award Recognizes MBA Women for Contributions to Advancement of Women in Business --
Austin, TX (June 08, 2010) – The Forté Foundation, a consortium of major corporations, business schools and non-profit organizations that directs talented women towards leadership roles in business, today announced the winner of the second annual Edie Hunt Inspiration Award.
This year’s award winner is Rebekah Ahn, a recent graduate from the MBA program at the Stern School of Business at New York University and native of Greensboro, NC.
The Edie Hunt Inspiration Award, designed to recognize the outstanding achievements of women MBA students at Forté Foundation sponsor schools, is awarded based on contributions the winner has made to her school and community to advance women into business leadership positions. The award was created in 2009 to honor the Chair Emeritus of Forté's Board of Directors, Edie Hunt. Edie is currently the Head of Global Diversity and Managing Director at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and is a Chicago Booth MBA 1974 graduate.
The annual award recipient receives complementary attendance for the Forté Foundation’s annual MBA Women’s Conference, which takes place in Chicago this year, and networking opportunities with Forté board members and corporate member executives at the event. In addition, the award recipient receives a $500 cash award and a $100 retail award,
“Edie Hunt has long been a crusader for diversity at the top in business and has a passion for helping to advance more women into leadership roles. She was one of the founders of the Forté Foundation and was critical to making it a success through her connections at myriad companies,” said Elissa Ellis-Sangster, executive director of the Forté Foundation.
Rebekah Ahn graduated in May 2010 from the Stern School of Business at NYU with her Master of Business Administration, with specializations in Marketing, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Corporate Finance. While at Stern, she was Co-President of Stern Women in Business (SWIB), an Alumni Scholar, a Graduate Ambassador in the Office of Admissions and an active member of the Legacy Committee, the Graduate Marketing Association, the Media Entertainment & Sports Association, and the Technology & New Media Group. She is a recipient of the Stern School Service Award for her service to the School, University and community. Rebekah is also a Forté Foundation Fellow and regular contributor to the Forté MBA Value Proposition blog (http://forum.fortefoundation.org ), where her posts help prospective MBA women navigate the admissions process.
“Rebekah Ahn embodies the spirit of someone who was born to make a difference,” said Rabia Ahmed, Associate Director of MBA Admissions, at the Stern School of Business. “Through her leadership as co-president of Stern Women In Business (SWIB), she motivated her fellow classmates to get involved on campus and give back to the NYC community. During her time at
Stern, she served as a mentor to prospective students, helping foster a culture of collaboration and inclusion. Under her leadership, SWIB received one of the highest honors at the university - the President's Service Award. Rebekah's passion, motivation and natural leadership style will continue to inspire others not only now, but also for years to come.”
All full-time students at Forté Foundation sponsor schools, a prestigious group of 37 leading business schools, are eligible to be nominated for the Edie Hunt Inspiration Award either by themselves, a school official or a classmate. Nominees must exhibit a track record of working to increase and/or encourage women's interests in business school or business careers. The selection criteria includes: increasing women's interest in attending business school; encouraging women to pursue business careers; leadership of a student organization or initiative related to women; active involvement in school activities recruiting women; and mentoring or counseling young women about business careers.
Rebekah will be publicly recognized during the Dialogue with Leadership session at the Annual Forté Foundation MBA Women’s Conference, June 19, 2010, to be held at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. For more information about the MBA Women’s Conference, visit http://www.fortefoundation.org/mbaconf.
Forté Corporate and Non-Profit Sponsors: American Express, Avon, Barclays Capital, BlackRock Investments, Bloomberg, The Capital Group Companies, Chevron, Citi, Citizens Financial Group, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Eli Lilly and Company, Ernst & Young, Fidelity Investments, Goldman, Sachs & Co., The Hartford, IBM, Intel, John Deere, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, Pfizer, UBS, Graduate Management Admission Council
Forté Graduate Business School Sponsors: Babson Graduate School of Business, Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Columbia Business School, Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at Virginia, The Fuqua School of Business at Duke, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Goizueta Business School at Emory, Harvard Business School, HEC-Paris, INSEAD, The Johnson School of Management at Cornell, Kelley School of Business at Indiana, The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, London Business School, McCombs School of Business at Texas, Mills College, Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Management, Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, Queen’s School of Business, Ross School of Business at Michigan, SDA Bocconi School of Management, Simmons School of Management, Stern School of Business at NYU, Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, UCLA Anderson School of Management, College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, UNC Kenan- Flagler Business School, University of Rochester, Simon Graduate School of Business, USC Marshall School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin School of Business, Wake Forest University Schools of Business, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale School of Management
ABOUT FORTÉ Forté is a nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving gender parity at all levels of business. Forté works closely with business schools, corporations, and universities to ensure women have access to opportunities at every stage in their careers. Forté offers a wide variety of resources, including MBA prep, professional development, leadership education, and a diverse community of successful women. For more information, visit fortefoundation.org. Media contacts: Michele Vana, BCW Global, michele.vana@bcw-global.com; Katie Stanfield, Forté Foundation, katies@fortefoundation.org Download the PDF
