Just before the MBA reunions last spring, a group of women graduates met for a new program that provided a special opportunity to discuss their business and leadership goals in the broader context of their lives.

Titled Charting Your Course: Alumnae Career Choices and Transitions, the program focused on future direction rather than past achievements and was attended by fifty women, primarily from the 10th, 15th, and 20th Reunion classes. This new HBS lifelong learning program was designed to bring alumnae together to discuss their individual career aspirations and needs and to help them develop effective strategies for building new leadership roles in business and nonprofit organizations. Many participants, whose careers had diverged from more traditional business paths when their family-related responsibilities increased, came to learn how to keep current in business skills while out of the full-time workforce. Others wanted to develop personal strategies for finding or creating meaningful work that would accommodate their new priorities.

The program, which was led by HBS professor Myra M. Hart and included Professors Linda A. Hill and Nancy F. Koehn, is indicative of the School's commitment to provide lifelong learning opportunities that address the needs of all HBS graduates. In recent years, both Hart and Dean Kim B. Clark have said that they often meet HBS alumnae who have left the workforce to focus on caring for their families and other commitments. Their observations were reinforced by Denise Condon Welsh (MBA '81), an HBS classmate of Hart's who wrote to Clark about the issues of women's reentry into the professional ranks. Welsh noted that each year since graduation she had joined ten female classmates for a reunion weekend. Over those twenty years, only three of the women had been employed continuously in a full-time position. The remaining women, she recounted, had moved in and out of the workforce, adjusting the scope and rhythms of their professional lives to fit with family and other responsibilities.

As a next step, Hart set up a series of dinners and meetings with alumnae in Boston, New York, and San Francisco to generate ideas about what HBS alumnae wanted and how the School could help. "It was a quest to see whether they were interested in campus-led support and, if so, what kind of support they would most like to have," said Hart. "It was clear that there was certainly sufficient interest and many different ideas about the potential impact of a targeted program."

The "beta test" seminar last spring began with a luncheon during which participants briefly introduced themselves and explained their personal and professional situations. From the outset, common experiences were evident, such as the uneasiness many shared at attending an HBS reunion for the first time after leaving the workforce. Most of the participants had children, and although only a few were employed full-time, most had significant leadership responsibilities with nonprofits. Many had started their own businesses, and others had developed part-time work options. Several were pursuing efforts related to education, an interest often sparked by their own children's needs.

In Dean Clark's welcoming remarks he called the members of the group "pioneers" and affirmed that HBS wanted to support them in constructing successful lives. "What we really care about is educating leaders," said Clark. "Wherever you are — in school, community, home, enterprise — that's where you'll have the greatest impact if your life is one of leadership."

Most agreed that they would have to blaze new trails to build rewarding work experiences that fit with their priorities. Said Ina Coleman (MBA '86): "As with anything else in life, if there isn't a straight road, it's going to be more difficult to get there."

Over the two-day period, attendees participated in case discussions, lectures, and workshops. Tim Butler, director of MBA career development programs, began with a session on developing a personal career vision, which was complemented by a presentation on tactics for reentering the workforce by career consultant Pam Lassiter. Linda Hill then led a case discussion, Hart presented principles of entrepreneurship, and Nancy Koehn shared insights from her research on the life of cosmetics entrepreneur Estée Lauder.

Hart noted that the positive response to the seminar suggested the possibility that two or three similar programs might be offered in different cities in the next year or two. She hopes to add breakout sessions to address the distinct needs of women at different stages of their professional and personal lives. For example, some alumnae are interested in practical advice about reentering the paid workforce, while others are still considering how and when to leave a traditional career path or how to remain on such a path and reduce time and travel commitments.

Following the program, Koehn commented on the importance of the choices facing the seminar participants. "I was struck by how serious they were about what they are doing and by their integrity in planning the next chapter of their lives," she said. "They want to do something that's right for them and the people they care about, and they are approaching these issues with great thoughtfulness."

It was clear that the drive to succeed that brought these women to HBS is still as strong as ever, even if their lives have shifted focus. Kim Ulrich Whelan (MBA '84), who heads the Boston office of a consulting company that places people in flexible work arrangements, seemed to sum it up for many: "I want to make a living, but I also want to change the world."

— Laura Singleton (MBA '88)

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