In celebration of Pride Month, Booth Pride Group co-chairs provide their perspective on how the student group helps build a stronger LGBTQ+ community at Booth.
- By
- June 21, 2024
- LGBTQ
Get to Know the Booth Pride Group
Booth Pride Group is a Part-Time MBA student group at Chicago Booth. Their mission is to foster growth in the LGBTQ+ community by providing learning and career development opportunities through holding a series of professional and social event offerings. Booth Pride Group aims to engage members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies to come together and provide support to one another during and beyond their MBA experience. Read on as current co-chairs Ben Cohen and Andrea Romero provide perspective on what it means to be a member of Booth Pride Group.
Ben Cohen
I started my professional life as an engineer working on autonomous vehicles at General Motors, after finishing a BS and MS at Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering. When I realized that engineering wasn’t the right career path for me, I made the transition to Product Management at a small machine learning startup. I found a lot of satisfaction in the many new challenges – some technical and some not. I knew I wanted to continue learning to broaden my knowledge base and prepare myself to take on new challenges; furthermore, I had serendipitously moved to Chicago because I loved it so much, so Booth was a natural fit. I chose Booth for its rigorous focus on the fundamentals driving business, and I specifically chose the Evening MBA Program out of a desire to continue working and gaining practical experience. After completing about two thirds of the program, I’m happy to report that I made the right choice!
Ben Cohen
Andrea Romero
Originally from Ecuador, my Colombian family and I immigrated to the suburbs of New York when I was a kid to pursue the American dream. And, as a first generation college graduate, I think that we accomplished it! I went to Cornell for undergrad and am continuing to grow at Chicago Booth now. My initial interest in Booth sparked as people continuously raved about their MBA experience at my current company. On a personal level, I love being in an environment where I can challenge myself academically and grow alongside my peers, so when looking at Booth’s core values I was sold. I was also yearning to make new friends; I think that Booth’s Part-Time MBA Program is one of the few programs where you can have an equally socially exhilarating experience as that of full-time students, due to the unique nature of our student life. For example, some of my friends and I advocated recently for the creation of an official E&W Latin American club. After careful planning, we were approved to launch as an official club this summer and look forward to creating and growing our community. Safe to say I am enjoying my time at Booth!
Andrea RomeroInsight on Booth Pride Group
Why did you want to co-chair Booth Pride, and what do you appreciate most about the group?
Ben: I wanted to co-chair Booth Pride to help continue building a stronger LGBTQ+ community within Booth, and connect fellow students who may have felt isolated in past experiences in similar settings. For me personally, the club has been a great way to meet other students with commonalities far removed from professional interests or career aspirations.
What does Booth Pride Group strive to accomplish?
Andrea: We aim to create a safe and supportive community for our LGBTQ+ & Allies members, which includes students, faculty, and alumni. Our goals are to have a thriving organization with an active social and academic calendar of events that allows for representation, connection, and celebration of our community, within Booth's larger community. We want to create opportunities for members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies to meet each other and rely on the club for personal and professional support, while at Booth and after graduation. Additionally, we strive to be a cohesive organization that is proud to represent our school and our talents in the workplace and at various conferences, including the annual ROMBA conference. We believe in the power and long-term value of networks, and our club is another opportunity to connect over our similar journeys, as members of the ambitious, smart, resilient LGBTQ+ community at one of the world's top MBA programs.
What would you like prospective students to know about the Booth Pride group?
Andrea: Please reach out to the co-chairs with questions or if you'd like to join an event, meet for coffee, or attend a class! We're a friendly bunch and would love to help you figure out if Booth is a good fit for you or to provide any tips that could help during the admissions process. Feel free to follow us on Instagram @chicagobooth_pride or email us at chicagoboothpride@gmail.com.
Ben: Booth Pride is a broad cross section of the school, with members from all different industries, educational backgrounds, and more. Whether the club serves your career or just makes for interesting new friends, I tend to think it’s always valuable to see what’s out there and expand our horizons. I’ll also add that there’s no one way to participate in the Pride group at Booth; some members prefer more low-key events, others prefer larger celebrations, but our goal is to create a community within Booth that’s welcoming to everyone, regardless of how they like to engage.
What kind of events does the Booth Pride Group host?
Andrea: We try to have at least one social event per quarter, whether it's a dinner, a happy hour, and/or movie. We're continuing to establish connections with our Full-Time student sister organization (OUTreach) and usually co-host with them and/or Pride at Kellogg.
An event that I am looking forward to organizing in the 2024-2025 school year is one celebrating LGBTQ+ women. Historically, women of our community tend to be less active in the community. I would like to provide a welcoming and vibrant forum for more women to engage. We need more women in the room and maybe this will be accomplished by hosting a wider array of social activities, including a dance or exercise class, more small members' dinners, and possibly even a trip to a holiday Joffrey ballet!
Some of my fellow co-chairs are also organizing a fun drag brunch (allies welcome!) and we're thrilled to attend the ROMBA conference in Los Angeles in September as a group.
Interested in learning more about the Booth Pride Group at Chicago Booth? Check out their website to connect with members, browse upcoming events, and more. Happy Pride Month!