This is part of a bi-weekly series of profiles about women in business.
Of the 500 companies on the 2014 Fortune 500 list, 24 have female CEOs. In 2013, women held 14.6 percent of Fortune 500 executive officer positions and 16.9 percent of board seats at Fortune 500 companies, according to Catalyst.org. Yet women made up 46.9 percent of the U.S. labor force that same year.
To compete in the male-dominated business industry, there has been a rise in organizations catered to helping women accelerate their careers.
One such company, Cue Ellevate, is a global professional network centered on connecting and empowering women. Founded in New York, Ellevate has expanded and now has over 40 chapters in cities and college campuses around the world – including Boston University.
Through monthly workshops, the Ellevate BU Chapter provides students with the tools needed to “elevate” their careers. Ellevate President Maria Jose Vasquez and Vice President of Internal Affairs Jackie Galichon spoke to the Daily Free Press about what Ellevate does to prepare women for leadership positions in the workplace.
Alexandra DelloStritto: What is Ellevate and how did it come to BU?
Jackie Galichon: It is a female networking organization that used to just be centered mostly around finance. It started in New York City and then chapters at different colleges popped up. It has expanded into other industries, so we do events pertaining to fashion and law, technology, all of that. So we try to cover all the bases. It is mainly for woman empowerment and career development.
Maria Jose Vasquez: It was an SMG [School of Management] student that started the chapter, and we do keep in touch with her still. She started small – getting the group together and having women work on networking skills. It used to be that the club only had one event a year…but about two-and-a-half years ago, it was decided that it would be more beneficial for the club and network to have monthly events.
AD: What kind of resources does Ellevate BU provide in its workshops?
JG: We just did a LinkedIn workshop with a networking and a LinkedIn expert to teach how to create a LinkedIn and make it professional, not just something thrown together the night before an interview or something to that effect. We are also looking to do resume workshops where we help girls create a real resume… We try to give girls all the career [and] professional opportunities and building blocks so they can work on themselves professionally. We’ll teach them how to make a LinkedIn, do their resume, perform in an interview, and we’ll have them meet with recruiters from AT&T, which we did last year, and they’ll practice their 30-second pitch, stuff like that.
AD: There are several other business-related clubs and organizations on campus. What makes Ellevate different?
JG: A lot of the other business clubs are more general. Ellevate is pertaining strictly to women, and they don’t even have to be in business. It’s about career opportunities and development in the professional world. Because women are becoming more and more active in the professional world, it makes sense. That way we help females break into the industry they’re looking for, like engineering and technology and staying relevant in fashion. Breaking into the corporate business world as CEOs and not just secretaries.
MJV: The point that we are a woman-only organization is a really important part of the club and of its identity because of all the issues that women have faced in the professional field in the past. It is really important for women who are looking to enter the working field to be able to learn from each other and to feed off the ideas that other women have and understand the power that they have when going into a job or an internship. It builds a good sense of community, having the concept of being women themselves.
AD: Have you seen results? Do you think that Ellevate is effective?
JG: I think it is, seeing our last [spring] conference, [an event in which Ellevate invites female executives and professors to speak and answer questions], which was last March. We had about 80 attendees and 20-30 woman professionals from all over the U.S. in different industries – like hotel, technology, law – come and speak to us about their experiences in the workplace, getting to where they are. It gives some insight as to how females are doing in the business world and how to break into the financial sector or how to break into the engineering sector when it’s mainly male-dominated. It helps give some guidance to our members and gives opportunities for those involved with Ellevate after they graduate. They might still work with their alumni chapter in promoting events or internship opportunities. It builds a network and provides guidance and overall opportunities for women in any role in the professional world.
AD: What are some issues women in the business field face today?
JG: People assume that if a woman is doing really well in her career, that she doesn’t do anything else. She doesn’t have outside friends, a relationship or time to start a family or do any of those “womanly” things. And [Ellevate is] trying to break away from that, and that’s why we have that work-life panel to talk about how you can do everything you want to do. Women are still underpaid, which is very unfair because we do the same amount of work that everyone else does.
AD: Has enough progress been made to enable women to have equal opportunity with men in business fields?
MJV: I think steps have been taken, and you see that in the number of leadership roles women are taking within business. You have all these women leaders that are stepping up and showing that women are capable of being leaders, but there is still a ways to go to make it an equal playing field. There are a very low number of CEO women compared to the number of CEO men in the finance field itself.
AD: Which female business leaders inspire you?
JG: I would say Professor [Kabrina] Chang. I had her last year, fall semester for SM131 [Business, Society and Ethics]… On a personal level, she is very sassy and stylish, and I thought that was very cool. But also she is a lawyer, and she started a family, so she wanted to spend more time with her family, so she started teaching… She is very driven and ambitious, and she wanted to do what she wanted to do, and she understood work-life balance… She is very practical, not overly emotional the way some people think females are. She doesn’t ever seem like she is ever discouraged.
MJV: There was an internship that I had where I had a female manager that inspired me to get myself known in the workplace and be confident of who I am and portray that to others. She was a positive influence on me in showing me that gender doesn’t matter when it comes to business or your career. If you are confident, you are able to face any of the circumstances or challenges that you may be placed in. I had the opportunity meet [Chief Operating Officer of Facebook] Sheryl Sandberg. After reading her book and doing some more research on her, she has been a big role model for I think not just myself, but a big group of women here in SMG and the workplace itself. Her book was a big hit. I think a lot of women after reading her book have stepped up and tried to make their mark in whatever field they’re in.
