By Leeann Bo T'18
Leeann grew up in Ohio and New Jersey. She spent (almost) the last decade in New York City, with the exception of a semester in Florence, Italy. She graduated from New York University's Stern School of Business and worked in investment banking prior to attending Tuck.
It was mid-June and about a hundred degrees in Austin, Texas. I, along with 400+ MBA students, entrepreneurs and powerful women in business were making our way to the annual Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference. Uber and Lyft had just left Austin and we all bonded over the mutual struggle to get to the conference center. But it was definitely worth it!
The 2-day conference was full of energy and vision, powered by this year’s theme, ‘Let’s Turn It Up: Transform the power trip. Propel your career’. Back-to-back panels, presentations and networking sessions opened up discussions about goals, obstacles and ideas. Women from all over the country and the world gathered to inspire one another. CEOs, recruiters and alumni mixed with current and prospective MBA students. My fellow Tuckies and I found each other quickly, as Tuck green runs thicker than blood. It was great getting to know future classmates before arriving on campus!
A few incoming T'18 Forté Fellows catching up with Senior Associate Director of Admissions, Pat Harrison.
The Forté Foundation is a non-profit consortium comprised of companies and top business schools. Membership is free and currently, there are more than 70,000 members. Forté is committed to motivating, educating and connecting women with their business career dreams. Founded in 2001, Forté was created in response to a study that explored myths and misperceptions about business careers and why fewer women attend business schools than law or medical schools.
Forté’s goals include showing that business careers can be rewarding, preparing women and building excitement for business school. Forté helps connect women with key decision makers in business school admissions, corporate recruiters and fellow students. Personally, I’ve been extremely inspired by the visionary women within the huge Forté network.
Tuck is a founding member of the Forté Foundation and has been active in the advancement of women in business. I was fortunate to be named a Forté Fellow, one of 10 incoming T’18 women this year who will serve as liaisons between Tuck and the Forté Foundation. The fellowship program’s objective is to increase the number of women applying to and enrolling in MBA programs. It is open to women pursuing a full-time, part-time or executive MBA education at sponsor business schools. The schools make their own selections from the applicant pool [there is no separate application]. At Tuck, Fellows are chosen based on the strength of their application overall and specifically for their alignment with Forté’s mission. As of 2016, schools have given “nearly $110 million to more than 5,000 Forté Fellows”. In addition to scholarships, fellows have immediate exposure to the broad Forté Network.
The programs and benefits of Forté however, begin well before Fellowship as a prospective MBA applicant. Some of them include:
I’m proud to be part of the Forté network and know this will be a lifelong commitment. Apart from the advice and insight from the annual conference and forums, I am positive the wonderful women I’ve met will continue inspiring me throughout my MBA years and far beyond.
Cover photo: Forté Tuckies pause for a photo in front of the "What's your word?" wall (from left to right: Guneet Sangha, Kim Misher, Annabel De Braganca, Lucy Zuraw, me).