Posted by Kate Stence on Mon, Oct 19, 2009
Mentors Wanted for Stanford Women in Business Club
Your insight and guidance could be invaluable and shape the life of a Stanford student. Along with FWL, Stanford Women in Business (SWIB) is looking for professionals (male and female) to become mentors for undergraduate students. We welcome any prior experience in consulting, finance, marketing, communications, nonprofit, venture capital, entrepreneurship, management or other creative business-related experience. Mentors and mentees are carefully paired, and venues and suggestions are provided to encourage communication. Program participants are also welcome to come to SWIB and FWL events during the year. Kindly find sign-ups online at Stanford here, on FWL's College Mentorship page, or directly reply to collegementorship@futurewomenleaders.net for more information.
Posted by Sonya Banerjee on Wed, Oct 07, 2009
Female genital mutilation ("FGM") is a right of passage used in many cultures to signify a young girl's coming of age. After girls are cut, they can then be married, which for many rural communities, happens as early as 9 years old. It is estimated that over 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM each year and that there are over 100 - 140 million women living with FGM currently (source: WHO). In Africa, about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM. (WHO)
Houses of Hope Yoga-thon will be doing 108 sun salutations to support the Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative, an organization that works to end FGM within Africa. The organization is run by Agnes Pareyio, a Maasai woman, who has been working to end FGM for over a decade through education and the development of an alternative rite of passage for young women.
Agnes has built two safe houses where young women live, are educated and do not face pressure to undergo FGM. She has developed an alternative rite of passage for young women to acknowledge their transformation without the cutting. Just over 10 years ago there was no alternative for girls in this region of Kenya who did not want to be cut. Now, each August and December, young girls come to Narok, the site of the first house, and become women through a four day ceremony and celebration.
Video Link where Agnes explains her work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcIlFQRVdA8
Two years ago Houses of Hope produced Vagina Monologues and raised over $50,000 to build the second safe house ever used to help end FGM. This year Houses of Hope is holding a yoga-thon to raise awareness of this important issue and raise money to operate the second house.
This event is scheduled to take place on October 10, 2009 in Central Park in NY. Even if you aren't able to attend the event, you can make a difference by making a donation (every little bit counts).
Posted by Andrea Heilbronner on Wed, Jul 01, 2009
I was happy to come across an article in the New York Times yesterday about new loan programs pushed through by the Obama administration. (read the NYT article here)
Starting today, the federal government begins offering a loan repayment plan that lets graduates reduce their loan payments based on their income.
Additionally, the interest rate on new Stafford Loans will drop from 6% to 5.6% and will continue to fall to 3.4% in 2012 based on a schedule created by Congress.
While the interest rate cuts only apply to those taking out new loans, the repayment plan might apply to anyone with Federal higher-education loans.
Those whose income is low enough will have the balance of their loans forgiven after 25 years. Anyone who works in public service (and the definition of public service is broad and includes the government, nonprofits, education, public health, etc) can have their loans forgiven after 10 years.
As someone contemplating more school (graduate degree? MBA? a certificate program?) and working at a non-profit, I'm thrilled at the prospect of cheaper loans. Hopefully this will help some of the FWL women out there who are joining our MBA mentorship program or are paying off college loans.
For more information on the new income-based repayment, check out the Dept of Educations new website here.
Posted by Megan Bergtholdt on Wed, Jun 10, 2009
We are pleased to extend an invite to Future Women Leaders' members and friends to the official launch of reMatch Sports, a new concept consignment sport equipment store - online and with a physical presence. Here are the details:
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009
Time: 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Location: 1567 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco
RSVP (attendees get a 10% discount at the store)
reMatch Sports is a unique concept for consignment sporting goods. Here's how it works:
- Buyers can browse the equipment selection online or create a wishlist so that reMatch can send you an email when that gear arrives.
- Buyers can visit the store and check out the gear in person.
- Sellers can drop off unused gear at the store and have reMatch sell it for you without any hassle.
Put all of the above together, and you can see reMatch Sports helps you pursue your sports passion at a lower cost. Their equipment spans categories from golf to kite surfing to camping. Pretty cool, if you ask me.
So come to the launch party, check out their new equipment, or bring any you no longer use. Hopefully I'll see you there!
Posted by Megan Bergtholdt on Mon, Jun 08, 2009
Future Women Leaders promotes the development of professional women - whether through mentoring, leadership development, networking, or personal development. We're always working to facilitate more interactions within the community and what better way to do this than to hear from you directly - on our blog!
Just follow these few guidelines, and we'll feature you as a guest blog contributor:
- Topics: Your posts should be about topics relevant to women and leadership, networking, entrepreneurship, professional development, mentoring, business school, or generally interesting stuff that our members would want to read.
- No Selling: It's great to tell us about new products and events, but we don't want a sales pitch.
- Length: Your post should be no less than 200 words and no more than about 800 words.
- Multimedia: We love it! However, any photos or videos you do not own the rights to will need to be credited appropriately in your post.
- About You: Be sure to include a short bio (no more than 1-2 sentences) and include any links to your blog, website, portfolio and/or social media profile. Our readers want to know who's writing!
- Reprints: Since a guest post here will help you gain exposure, but won't pad your wallet, we will consider running a post that has appeared elsewhere - as long as you own the rights.
New to blogging? No problem. If you're curious about blogging, a guest post is a great way to check it out.
Please send your questions and blog submissions to Shradha at outreach@futurewomenleaders.net.
Posted by Andrea Heilbronner on Sat, Feb 28, 2009
Here at FWL, we're excited by the news that Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (YWSE) has offered to sponsor our new, upcoming entrepreneurship program: Become a Fearless Entrepreneur.
As a woman, I'm always happy to see collaboration rather than competition- I tend to think it results in a stronger more powerful product. As the Future Women Leaders entrepreneurship program coordinator, I'm particularly pleased that such an active, established and idealistic group of women is interested in promoting our program. While I'm confident that "Become a Fearless Entrepreneur" is going to be an amazing program (and I'm so confident that I'm going to be a program participant!) it's always nice to have an additional vote of confidence, especially from a group you respect.
So, welcome to all of the YWSE women out there interested in exploring entrepreneurship with us- I look forward to meeting you all at the March 2nd info session and working with you to launch our companies!
Posted by Megan Bergtholdt on Wed, Jan 21, 2009
Event: "Become a Fearless Entrepreneur" Information 
Session
Date: Tuesday, January 27 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Location: 680 Mission Street (3rd and Mission); Meeting Room on Level A2
Cost: FREE
RSVP Here
Become a Fearless Entrepreneur is a six-month program that will help new and aspiring female entrepreneurs take steps toward making their business dreams a reality. This program, designed by Future Women Leaders (FWL) and Starla Sireno, will provide women with a forum to discuss and forward their entrepreneurial endeavors in a supportive environment with other like-minded women. In addition to providing tools, ideas and feedback, this program will also help participants uncover what it means to have an entrepreneurial mindset.
In addition to monthly meetings, each participant will be assigned to structured peer groups that will meet monthly to discuss assignments and to provide accountability.
At the end of the program, participants will have completed a draft of their business plan, their financial modeling and will be prepared to pitch their business at local competitions (e.g. Women 2.0 and Entrepreneur Meet-up).
Entrepreneurial expert and trainer Starla Sireno will facilitate the program. Download the information session flier here.
Posted by Megan Bergtholdt on Mon, Dec 22, 2008
Looking to connect with other professional women in the Bay Area? Join Future Women Leaders and the 80+ members on LinkedIn in the FWL group. The group enables you to network with like-minded women, discuss topics on leadership and professional development, and review relevant news articles. Some recently discussed topics include "What are the best resources for female business school applicants?" and "Do you have any tips for networking?".
Already a member? Invite friends to join!
Posted by Megan Bergtholdt on Wed, Nov 12, 2008
We're on Facebook and are looking to connect with you! The new Facebook group has over 90 members. Have you already joined us? Invite some friends! Not yet a member of Facebook? It's a great way to reconnect with old friends, network with new ones, and follow organizations you're passionate about.
Posted by Megan Bergtholdt on Wed, Nov 05, 2008
We are proud to announce a new
FWL lending team on
Kiva.org. Are you familiar with Kiva? Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of
alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.
Future Women Leaders' mission is to promote the leadership development of women both personally and professionally, and Kiva enables us to help women not only locally but globally as well.
Help others less fortunate than you this holiday season by joining the Future Women Leaders lending team and providing entrepreneurs around the world with micro-loans. Just $25 can make a difference!