Schwartz and Thompson-Verga: addressing women's issues in the Bay Area. Photo courtesy Brooke Schwartz

For the past seven years, the Women’s Initiative, a group of HBS alumnae in the Bay Area, has been creating networking opportunities for alumnae, reaching out to girls of all ages in the Northern California region, and staging events that address the concerns of women. The initiative was founded in 1996 by Julie Anderson (MBA ’92) as a subgroup of the HBS Association of Northern California (HBSA/NC). Today, explains Brooke Schwartz (MBA ’93), the cochair along with Gillian Thompson-Verga (MBA ’93), the Women’s Initiative aims to help alumnae in three ways: by providing career development and education opportunities, by enhancing networking, and by organizing volunteer programs that aid the local community. “Our goal is to help women leverage their MBAs and give back to the community,” Schwartz notes.

After being involved with the group since its inception, Schwartz became cochair in 1998 and took the lead in establishing a community outreach program with Girls Inc. of Alameda County, an association that helps disadvantaged girls and their families. HBS alumnae in the Bay Area have been sharing their business expertise with local girls by giving career-skills workshops, holding mock job interviews, and serving as judges on scholarship panels. One particularly successful event was a stock market lesson designed by Alison Cohen (MBA ’98) and Kim Kiesewetter (MBA ’94). At the start of the two-day class, the teen girls had little understanding of the market, but, Schwartz recalls, “by the end of it, they were reading the stock pages and picking stocks. It was really exciting.”

Thompson-Verga, who served as president of the Women’s Student Association while a student at HBS, led a successful alumni event last year titled “How I Leveraged My Harvard MBA,” which featured a panel of alumnae from the Classes of ’70, ’80, ’90, and ’00. Afterward, she says, she was tapped to help further with the Women’s Initiative and soon took on the responsibilities of cochair.

Both women attribute the success of the Women’s Initiative in part to its close relationship with the HBSA/NC. “We work hand in hand with the club to put on events to address the interests of the membership,” says Schwartz. And while the group’s top priority is the some six hundred female members of the HBSA/NC, men are also included in the mix. At three sold-out events last year — “The Balancing Act” (which focused on the work/family dynamic), “Women in Technology,” and “Closing the Deal” — male attendance ranged from 5 percent to 20 percent. “Women are voicing a need, but men are responding as well,” Schwartz notes.

The group’s spring calendar features a financial program dubbed “Everything You Wanted to Know about Financial Planning but Were Afraid to Ask.” Schwartz and Thompson- Verga are also collaborating to create a Women in Business Summit that will link alumnae with Bay Area girls and women who are specifically interested in careers in business. “The club is very interested in making sure women’s issues get addressed,” concludes Schwartz. “We are happy to oblige.”

— Amy Burton

For further information on the Women’s Initiative, please e-mail hbsancwomen-owner@yahoogroups.com.

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