Women and Minority Investors Are Taking Matters into Their Own Hands
The VC industry continues to pay lip service to diversity.
Women and Minority Investors Are Taking Matters into Their Own Hands
Resources for Women in Business
Chicago Booth has a deep commitment to empowering women to accelerate their personal and professional growth.
Through powerful networks, insightful research, and professional opportunities, Booth creates a collaborative community that builds up women from all backgrounds and enables them to create meaningful change locally and globally.
Here, you’ll find access to key business resources for women from Booth, the broader University of Chicago community, and beyond. From support for career development and entrepreneurial ventures to scholarships, global events, and opportunities to get involved, we offer a wide array of business resources and professional opportunities for women in the Booth community.
Will we provide new resources on a regular basis. Please check back often.
Get Involved
Make a lasting impact by getting involved and supporting women around the world. There are many ways to make a difference, from supporting women-owned businesses to mentoring the girls who will be tomorrow’s leaders. Here are a few ways to get involved, at Booth and beyond.
A discussion at Booth Women Connect 2022 highlighted the impact that partnerships between corporations and nonprofits can have. For partnership opportunities, please contact us.
The University Community Service Center engages students with communities and partners to build a more just Chicago. Volunteer opportunities include Ladies of Virtue, a nonprofit that prepares girls ages 9 to 18 to become change agents in their communities, and My Block, My Hood, My City, which is dedicated to empowering communities to build a better world.
Leverage Booth’s Research Centers
Several research centers at Booth support women in making a lasting impact through scholarly work on issues that matter to women, funding for entrepreneurial ventures, and more.
The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation is the social impact hub at Chicago Booth. The center provides many resources for students and alumni seeking to empower women and create meaningful change.
Are you working on a new venture aimed at supporting women?
Rustandy Center support social entrepreneurs through the Edwardson Social Entrepreneurship Program. Through programs like the John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC), the center provides critical capital, mentoring, and connections to help launch new business. The center is eager to support and connect with students and alumni working in this space.
Examples of women-driven and focused ventures include Shakti, a mobile-based intervention that aims to empower illiterate women in India to enforce their rights, Veera Health, a digital therapeutics platform that helps women identify and navigate Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, and Pie for Providers, which uses technology to streamline and automate child care subsidy to ensure child care providers—small, women-owned businesses—get paid for their work and help families access care.
Do you seek to have an impact by supporting a nonprofit addressing the pressing needs of women, locally or globally?
The Rustandy Center believes that nonprofits—and their boards of directors—have the potential to drive social and environmental change.
The center offers resources, programs, and events to help nonprofit organizations do their best work. In particular, for those seeking to join nonprofit board focused on empowering women, the nonprofit board toolkit helps new board members prepare, navigate, and thrive during their first 90 days serving on a nonprofit board.
Are you looking for thought leadership and research on DEI?
The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation supports research that shines a light on the gender gap facing women in the workplace and other key issues, as well as research that supports diversity broadly.
The center often participates in events that examine gender and diversity. Visit the Rustandy Center events page for more information on upcoming programs.
The Polsky Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship supports women through several initiatives. For example, we recently partnered with C200, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance women corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, to support networking and mentorship opportunities for Booth students through C200 Scholar Awards of $10,000. The Polsky Center also provides funding for women and other entrepreneurs through the annual Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge.
Find out how you can learn more about the Polsky Center's entrepreneurial programming and events.
The George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State supports research that promotes the power of markets to enhance human welfare. This research often spotlights issues affecting women worldwide, such as gender inequality and the unequal impact of the COVID-19 economy. The Stigler Center’s influential Capitalisn’t podcast also frequently spotlights women in episodes like “Is Discrimination Still Causing The Gender Pay Gap?”
Learn more about how you can subscribe to the Capitalisn't podcast.
Insights from Chicago Booth Review
In Praise of ‘Messy Economics’
Economists needn’t be afraid to fight inequality; it’s the efficient thing to do.
In Praise of ‘Messy Economics’
How to Get More Woman CEOs
A look at what’s holding women back from top-paying jobs.
How to Get More Woman CEOsGet Career Support from Booth
If you’re a student or a graduate of Booth, your career advancement and success is our priority. Our Career Services office provides hands-on coaching and guidance to students and alumnae long after graduation, while our student groups help you make connections and grow your network. Whether you’re a Booth student, an alumna, or even a business leader, we invite you to explore our professional resources for women.
Manage Your Career
Discover how Booth can help you navigate through your career—no matter your industry or interests.
Manage Your Career
Uniting and Empowering Booth Women
Graduate Women in Business (GWB), a student-led group, supports Evening and Weekend MBA students in developing professional, social, and personal skills for long-term career success.
Uniting and Empowering Booth Women
Contact Us
Let us tell you more about how Booth can help your company reach its goals in recruiting, employee development, employee engagement, and more.
Contact UsExplore How Booth's Executive MBA Program Supports Women
Women who aspire to executive-level positions in business often face a daunting array of obstacles. That’s why Chicago Booth’s Executive MBA Program offers scholarships and other resources for women in our program.
- The Global Dean’s Initiative Scholarship for Women supports high-potential female students in the Executive MBA Program in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong.
- The 30 percent Club Scholarship for Women provides $50,000 in funding to support high-potential female students in the Executive MBA program in London.
- Our Guide to Writing a Business Case for Sponsorship offers tips on approaching your employer about enrolling in an EMBA program.
Discover Professional Resources for Women in Chicago and Beyond
Booth collaborates with corporations and organizations across Chicago and beyond to bring additional resources to our community of women. Through mentoring opportunities, sponsorship, and other activities, our partnerships leverage community resources to support your personal and professional development.
Booth and Sponsorship
The following corporate sponsors provide critical support for our annual Booth Women Connect Conference. They also offer vital partnership resources to support past BWC attendees or those who are interested in attending a future event, as well as help our students successfully navigate their MBA experience.
Banking giant Northern Trust partners with Ignite, a nonprofit that supports youth who are experiencing homelessness on their journey to a home and a future with promise.
The Chicago-based investment research firm works closely with YWCA USA, one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the nation.
Venture capital firm GingerBread Capital works with Invest in Girls, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing financial literacy among girls and increasing the number of women working in finance.
Chicago Booth is a founding sponsor and proud supporter of the Forté Foundation, which offers scholarships, career resources, networking and mentoring opportunities, and live and online events. Each year, Chicago Booth sponsors several Forté Fellows who receive up to $20,000 in scholarship funding per year.
Other UChicago Resources for Women
LGBTQ Mentoring
The University of Chicago’s Office of LGBTQ Student Life provides current students, including Booth students, with a mentorship program that connects lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, and questioning students with LGBTQ staff, faculty, and graduate/professional mentors.
Global Resources for Alumni
Chicago Booth is a global business school with a powerful international presence. Our vibrant, 55,000-strong alumni community extends to more than 120 countries, and our campuses in London and Hong Kong provide a foundation for worldwide connections, research, and impact. We offer a wide range of resources for our global alumni community, from alumni events that aim to bring women together around the world to exciting opportunities for alumni to get alumnae involved and volunteer.
Resources for Staff
If you are an employee at the University of Chicago, there are a number of ways for you to get involved—from volunteering in the Hyde Park and surrounding South Side communities to joining UChicago resource groups and more.