FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Austin, TX, September 16, 2015) – Today Forté Foundation launched the “Rising Star” pilot initiative on
10 U.S. campuses to help encourage, support and prepare undergraduate women to graduate well informed about their many career options, including in business, and to compete for top jobs.
The following schools are participating in the pilot: Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, The George Washington University, Indiana University, New York University, The Ohio State University, University of Michigan, The University of Texas at Austin, William & Mary, and Yale University.
“When young women start exploring their career options in detail early on, it helps them to pick the right major or courses, get the right internships, and take other important steps to smooth their professional path,” said Elissa Sangster, Executive Director, Forté Foundation. “We want to give young women the skills and tools they need to succeed broadly, while specifically informing them about business options before graduation. This helps companies that seek to enhance diversity—and makes women stronger candidates for the best jobs.”
The “Rising Star” initiative consists of a curriculum for undergraduate women of all majors including unique networking opportunities and advice, resume building and job search support, career guidance, MBA exploration and networking, event participation, and more. Participation is free and flexible. Students will need at least two full semesters to complete all 20 activities in the program for a total of 500 points.
Students earn rewards each time they collect 100 points, or five rewards total, including the grand prize. Rewards include an introduction to three Forté corporate sponsors and one business school sponsor of the student’s choice, entry into the Forté full-time jobs or internships resume book, an invitation to a special networking session, and application waivers for Forté’s C2B (College to Business) Leadership Conference or its College Fast Track to Finance Conference. Undergraduate women who participate in the program and earn 500 points will be recognized as a “Forté Rising Star,” a professional development, networking and mentorship designation that will help them stand out to potential employers and in the MBA application process. They will also receive a three-month career prep mentor or lunch with a career influencer.
Called to action by a landmark research study, Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity, looking at why women are underrepresented in leading business schools compared with medical or law schools, Forté Foundation was launched in 2001 to address this inequity and its impact on the business landscape. Forté enables its corporate and school sponsors to effectively reach, recruit and retain top female talent. Forté’s agenda to reach college-aged women, MBA candidates and MBA alumnae builds on its founding commitment to increase the number of women in the early business pipeline, and creates partnerships with academic and advocacy groups, as well as its own sponsors, to attract and retain women in business careers.
FORTÉ SPONSORS
Forté Sponsor Companies:
A.T. Kearney; AT&T; Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Barclays; Capital Group; Chevron; Citi; Citizens Financial Group; Cognizant; Credit Suisse; Cummins; Danaher; DaVita; Deloitte; Deutsche Bank; Dimensional Fund Advisors; Dow; DTCC; Eli Lilly and Company; EY; Evercore; ExxonMobil; Fidelity Investments; Goldman Sachs; Hines; IBM; J.P. Morgan; Liberty Mutual; McKinsey & Company; New York Life; PIMCO; The PNC Financial Services Group; UGI Corporation; UMT Consulting; Wells Fargo
Forté Nonprofit Sponsor: Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)
Forté Business School Sponsors: Arizona State University (W.P. Carey School of Business); Babson College (F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business); Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper School of Business); Columbia Business School; Cornell University (Johnson School of Management); Dartmouth College (Tuck School of Business); Duke University (The Fuqua School of Business); Emory University (Goizueta Business School); The George Washington University (School of Business); Georgetown University (McDonough School of Business); Harvard Business School; HEC-Paris; IE Business School; IESE Business School; INSEAD; Indiana University - Bloomington (Kelley School of Business); London Business School; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan); Michigan State University (Broad College of Business); Mills College (Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business); New York University (Stern School of Business); Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management); The Ohio State University (Fisher College of Business); Queen’s School of Business; Rice University (Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business); Southern Methodist University (Cox School of Business); University of California - Berkeley (Haas School of Business); University of California - Los Angeles (Anderson School of Management); University of Chicago (Booth School of Business); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (College of Business); University of Maryland (Smith School of Business); University of Michigan (Ross School of Business); University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Carlson School of Management); University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler Business School); University of Notre Dame (Mendoza College of Business); University of Oxford (Saïd Business School); University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School); University of Rochester (Simon School of Business); University of Southern California (Marshall School of Business); The University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business); University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management); University of Virginia (Darden School of Business); Vanderbilt University (Owen Graduate School of Management); Washington University in St. Louis (Olin Business School); Yale School
of Management; York University (Schulich School of Business)
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
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