The Forté Women’s MBA Conference Returns to Anderson

The Forté Women’s MBA Conference returned to the UCLA Anderson campus on Friday June 20, 2014. The conference is put on by the Forté Foundation, a nonprofit consortium of leading companies and top business schools working together to launch women into careers through access to business education, opportunities and a network of their peers.

The organization also provides fellowships to women attending business schools, including students at Anderson. Attendants of the conference were predominantly women in or about to commence MBA programs representing the majority of top domestic and international schools. They hailed from 34 U.S. states and eight foreign countries.

UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian delivered the conference’s opening remarks. The dean described a “paradox of progress,” noting that while there has been significant progress for professional women in recent decades, there is still a long way to go until equality is achieved.

Olian told the attendees about what she called a “two-pronged strategy” to not just redefine gender roles, but eliminate them altogether. “First, be the best you can be, as fiercely successful professionals,” Olian said. “Second, focus also on the majority group, on men, so that they understand what an inclusive, mutually supportive culture is and understand best practices to support women and minorities.”

Olian served as the moderator for the “Dialogue with Leadership” panel featuring Barbara Desoer, Citibank CEO, who received her MBA at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business; Christine McCarthy (’81), executive vice president of corporate real estate, alliances and treasurer of the The Walt Disney Company who received her MBA at UCLA Anderson; and Barbara Hulit, senior vice president of Danaher Business Systems who received her MBA at the Kellogg School at Northwestern.

All three women agreed that their MBAs had opened doors and possibilities they never thought were available. However, while those opportunities were created, they all agreed it was their work ethic that carried them through.

regions: Los Angeles

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