Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Forté Conferences Recap

This blog post was written by Peer Career Ambassador, Shreya Shah ‘20

The Forté Foundation has recently partnered with Undergraduate Center for Career Development at Babson College to launch women into successful business careers and provide them with the tools to advance them into significant roles.The Forte’s Foundation, Rising Star Initiative provides Babson students an opportunity to stand out to employers by participating in activities in the areas of career exploration, personal branding, job search, networking, and professionalism. Another valuable experience that Forte provides is the opportunity to attend free conferences in top cities in the U.S. This semester, 11 Babson women attended these conferences and here is a recap.

The Forté Fast Track to Finance Conference, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, took place on Friday, April 13th. This one-day conference allowed college women interested in a career in finance to learn about the areas of investment banking and sales and trading. Specifically, attendees will “ learn by “doing,” build leadership skills, and expand your network while you are introduced to rewarding careers in financial services” (Forté Foundation). Applications filled up quickly, but three Babson students were able to attend this conference. By participating in banking and trading simulation workshops, networking with top women leaders in finance, and listening to the inside scoop of the interviewing process for this industry, this conference provides an experience that is beyond valuable.

This year, Forte hosted two College to Business Leadership Conferences, one on April 6th in Washington D.C. and the other on April 13th, in Chicago. Sophomore Charlene Chen, who attended the Chicago conference, shared her experience with me.
“The Forté College to Business Leadership Conference in Chicago was a great experience and JP Morgan was an excellent host. The speakers were so inspirational and I am fortunate for the opportunity to be among such strong female leaders.” – Charlene Chen, Class of 2020

Rachel Williams, a first-year student at Babson who is also on the volleyball team, had some great takeaways from attending the business leadership conference.
“I was in awe being in the presence of such powerful and successful women who grew as leaders through the Forté Foundation, and it was really inspiring hearing about their journeys. Aside from that, the hands-on business simulation was an extremely enriching experience and pushed my mental boundaries to a level I didn’t know I had. Collaborating and being in the same space as equally competitive, driven young women allowed me to utilize the skills I learned at Babson in a new environment to discover new areas of improvement and interest.” – Rachel Williams, Class of 2021

By attending these conferences and joining the Forté Rising Star Initiative, Babson College women are able to expand their network outside of local alumni and have to opportunity connect with other like-minded students who are interested in stepping foot in business careers. Forté Rising Stars are also provided with opportunities to grow into top leaders in their future workplace by connecting with industry experts and inspirational women that can guide them to success.

Interested in building your business skills and leverage your network of women leaders? Become a Forté Rising Star and register for free online at http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=risingstar and reach out to Larinda Cole, the campus coordinator, (lcole3@babson.edu) to learn more. The Babson Forté campus representatives for Fall 2018 are Julia Lu (jlu3@babson.edu) and Sherry Wang (mwang6@babson.edu). If you want to get more involved with Forté on campus, you can connect with them as well.