The Women's Leadership Initiative at Yale University

 Fall 2010 – Spring 2011

• "Ventures in Health: Careers at the Intersection of Healthcare, Finance, Consulting and Policy" Panel cosponsored by Women in Science at Yale and the Yale Undergraduate Society for Biological Sciences. Panel featured speakers with diverse backgrounds from McKinsey & Co, Medtronics Pharmaceuticals, Leerink Consulting, Hudson Health, Neuberger Berman, PricewaterhouseCooper, Simon-Kucher & Partners, and the legal department in the US House of Representatives. 
• Mentorship partnership with Women in Management group from the Yale Graduate School of Management.
• Conversation on networking and success in consulting with four senior consultants from Oliver Wyman. 
• "Success After Cancer" Panel in partnership with Colleges Against Cancer and the Yale Public Health Coalition. Aimed to raise cancer awareness through the powerful success stories of four female leaders who survived cancer.
• Job Shadowing Day with accomplished female alumnae in New York City. Opportunities in finance, law, public relations, medicine, public education and design.
• "Women in Fashion" Panel in collaboration with Y Couture featuring Maura Manning, VP of Design at Polo Ralph Lauren. 
• Panel Discussion with Justice Peters of the CT Supreme Court in partnership with the Yale Undergraduate Law Review. As the first woman lawyer to be appointed to the faculty at Yale Law School, Justice Peters offered valuable insights into leadership and spoke to the role of women in law.
• "Look Like a Lady- Talk Like a Leader" workshop with Carmie McCook, nationally recognized expert at helping high-profile professionals communicate more powerfully. Unique opportunity to gain valuable public speaking and self-presentation skills in an intimate setting. 
• Launch of WLI Associate Program. The program pairs an Associate with an Executive Board member to assist with WLI events and projects. In return, the associate gains experience in WLI and develops a relationship with an Executive Board mentor. 

Fall 2009 – Spring 2010

• Conversation on entrepreneurship with LearnVest founder Alexa von Tobel, named one of Inc.’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs under 30. LearnVest was selected by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Websites for Women and as a TechCrunch 50 Company.
• Out of Yale Panel to discuss the transition from Yale to professional life. Panelists included Patrick Hayden ’08, Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, Rudy Kleysteuber Law ’08, Law Clerk at U.S. District Court for Connecticut, Victoria Blodgett, Director of Yale Graduate Career Services, and James Perlotto ’78, Chief of Student Medicine. Panelists and students discussed how to manage diversity in the workplace.
• Master’s tea and small roundtable discussion with School of Management professor Tori Brescoll, whose research focuses on the impact of stereotypes on an individual’s status within organizations.
• Two dinner discussions with experienced headhunter Jane Ezersky, who spoke about how to conduct oneself in the work place. The first dinner focused on how to land a job, and the second focused on on-the-job etiquette.  
• Master’s tea and small group discussion with Lucy Danziger (Editor-in-Chief of Self magazine) and Catherine Birndorf, authors of The Nine Rooms of Happiness to discuss how women can feel more satisfied and fulfilled in every aspect of their lives
• Panel with Yale seniors on how to interview for summer internships
• Master’s Tea with Professor Mary Habeck, a prominent military historian at Johns Hopkins University on how to approach finding a job in public service
• Master’s Tea with Carole Disarm, a prominent advocate for women’s rights who as instrumental in giving women the right to hold credit
•  Exclusive shopping event at J.Crew to celebrate the accomplishments of female leaders on-campus. We unveiled over 20 large posters of leaders who have accomplishments in a diverse number of academic and extracurricular fields. The event brought in over 70 attendees, all of whom left with new relationships, posters, and great additions to their wardrobes! 

Fall 2008 – Spring 2009

• Master’s tea with Kate Zernike, New York Times political correspondent.
• Workshop with McKinsey consultants on how to manage time wisely.
• Master’s tea and small group discussion with Asha Rangappa, former FBI agent and current Dean of Yale Law School
• Panel with Yale seniors on how to interview for summer internships.
• Small group discussion on ‘women in politics’ with Dr. Karen Otazo, global leadership coach.
• Yale Student Leadership Conference 2008 – Coordinated with the The Ogilvie, Robinson, DeChabert Forum at the African-American Cultural Center and the Leadership Institute.  The Conference featured workshops on decision-making, character, responsibility, and a panel with World Fellows.
• “Managing your Personal Finances” workshop given by Professor Sigridur Benediktsdottir, a lecturer of Economics at Yale. 
• A dinner conversation with First Round venture capitalist Christine Herron and Yale Investments Office Anne Martin.
• A conversation with Janet Hanson, Founder of 85 Broads, and also the first woman promoted in Goldman Sachs's sale management department.
• “Making the Most out of your Summer Internship: How to Excel and Set Yourself Up For Fall Recruiting” workshop given by Deutsche Bank..

Fall 2007 – Spring 2008

• A “Launch Event” featuring talks by the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and Yale Law professor, Judith Resnik.
• A meeting with Justice Margaret Marshall, Yale Corporation member and Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
• A talk by Ann Curry, co-host of Dateline NBC.
• A discussion with Pamela Sayad, former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who now specializes in wrongful termination and sex discrimination suits.
• Two job-shadowing days with accomplished female alumnae in New York City.
• A panel on women in medicine, including some of the top female healthcare professionals from the Northeast.
• A panel on women in business, which included talks by a vice president from Boston Consulting Group and an associate at Goldman Sachs.
• A panel on women in journalism that brought together accomplished writers and editors from Slate, Reader’s Digest, The Hartford Courant, and Yale Alumni Magazine.
• A discussion with Cecilia Mwaluda, a Kenyan AIDS activist.
• The first-ever “Women in Leadership Conference” held at the Yale Law School in November, 2007, featuring 40 female alumnae and over 185 student participants.
• Lecture in Davenport common room with Maureen Chiquet, CEO of Chanel
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Fall 2006 – Spring 2007

• A workshop on women in business (sponsored by The Boston Consulting Group and Goldman Sachs) that brought to Yale three female professionals—including a Vice-President from The Boston Consulting Group, an Associate at Goldman Sachs, and a co-president of Women in Management at the Yale School of Management—to speak about their paths to employment and experiences in business.
• A meeting with the female World Fellows, international leaders who have come to Yale for a semester of leadership development training.
• Development of a mentorship program.  Upperclassmen women have been paired with freshmen and sophomore women with similar interests to speak about leadership, adapting to Yale, and life more generally.
• A partnership with the Yale Women’s Faculty Forum.  The WLI Board gave a presentation to Yale alumnae at a WFF event at the Yale Club of New York City.
• A student panel on women’s leadership at Yale that featured half a dozen women from various fields at Yale who offered advice to WLI members based on their leadership experiences.
• Social events, including a study break, happy hour, and mentorship dinners.