Female Founder Resources
In honor of International Women’s Day, we wanted to highlight how we are supporting female founders at Babson. The Blank Center, in partnership with our colleagues at the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL), has compiled some specific resources that female founders can take advantage of through our centers and beyond. This fall, the Blank Center and CWEL will be hosting a joint panel featuring some of our female founders, who will share their experiences as they started from ideas to launched companies. Stay tuned for more details!
WIN Lab®
Created by the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) at Babson College, Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab® provides women entrepreneurs with an inspiring community and a rigorous, experiential process that catalyzes innovative thinking and enables them to successfully launch or transform businesses. A couple weeks ago, some of our Babson female founders were able to participate in a student observation night with the current WIN Lab® Boston cohort! An info session on the WIN Lab® will be coming soon.
Female Founders Fund
Established by Mr. and Mrs. Sandeep Soni P’20, the Female Founders Seed Fund helps women entrepreneurs move their ventures forward. Each semester as part of the Blank Center’s overall seed fund application process, the Butler Launch Pad team reviews seed fund requests from female founders to obtain small grants for their startups. Qualified ventures may be awarded up to $5,000.
WeStart
WeStart is Wellesley College’s entrepreneurship club. WeStart strives to foster an entrepreneurial spirit on our campus. From bringing successful entrepreneurs on campus to hosting Wellesley’s first Pitch Competition, WeStart aims to expose students to the exciting world of entrepreneurship.
Golden Seeds
Golden Seeds is an early-stage investment firm with a focus on women leaders, creating last impact. They offer office hours for female founders looking for funding advice, or even just feedback.
WEBOS
City of Boston’s program to convene and support Boston’s women entrepreneurs of Boston.
Upcoming Events:
From Athlete to Entrepreneur: Finding Success Outside of Your Box
March 11
5:30-7:30pm
Knight Auditorium
Passion, confidence, resilience, leadership – there is no doubt that the skills that have allowed you to succeed in your sport will propel you to succeed in your business. Michele Marcianiak, Co-Founder of Sheex, has done just that – leveraging the skills that she learned on the court to break out of her box to launch a global performance bedding and sleepware company. Join us to hear Michele’s personal journey from WNBA player to entrepreneur and mix and mingle with dozens of Babson alumni that have found similar success in all assets of business. Presented by Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership, Center for Career Development, and Babson Athletics.
She Connects
March 22
3-8:30pm
Venture Café Kendall
Boston is named the second-best city in the world for female founders representing 29% of all founders according to Compass. Join us for an evening to discuss, connect and celebrate female entrepreneurship in Boston. Hosted by the WIN Lab® and Venture Café.
Good Business Friday: Gender Equity as a Key Sustainability Driver
March 30
12-1:30pm
Reynolds Global Lounge
Join The Lewis Institute every Friday between noon and 1:30pm in the Reynolds Global Lounge for open and casual discussions about creating and maintaining a business in today’s world. On March 30, Susan Duffy, Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership will lead a conversation on gender equity as a key sustainability driver.
Boston Public Market Food Hub Forum
April 24
Boston Public Market, 100 Hanover Street, Boston
Joining forces with the team from Boston Public Market, the WIN Lab® will bring together a panel of food entrepreneurs to talk about what it means to be a woman leader in what has traditionally been a male dominated industry. Food entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to showcase their products during the day.
Other Resources (this is a handful that we thought might be of interest! The resources listed below are not endorsements):
Mashable’s 10 Great Resources for Women Entrepreneurs
SCORE Resources for Women Entrepreneurs
Boston Business Women
Aims to provide women with a platform to effectively get to know their business community and have fun while doing it.
The Center for Women & Enterprise
The Center for Women & Enterprise is a nationally known nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people start and grow their businesses.
National Women’s Business Council
The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) is a non-partisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.
SheStarts
SheStarts supports the growing pipeline of women founders in Boston.
She Geeks Out
Provide women in STEM an opportunity to network and connect with each other as well as with companies who wish to hire them.
Tory Burch Foundation
The Tory Burch Foundation empowers female entrepreneurs through capital, education, and fellowship programs.