Ivey has renewed its commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and will be focusing on substantial improvements in this area. There are many organizations working to build a more inclusive community. Here’s a glance at how the Women of Ivey Network shines a spotlight on the achievements of Ivey’s alumnae and alumni female-focused initiatives.
What is the Women of Ivey Network?
The Women of Ivey Network (WIN) is a global network of leaders from across the Ivey community with a mission of fostering a gender-inclusive culture and accelerating the advancement of women in business though networking, mentorship, professional development opportunities, and philanthropy. WIN’s focus is to create space to engage and network, as well as host events that highlight women’s achievements and provide women-centric content that appeals to this demographic. On the Ivey Alumni Network board, WIN members work in an advocacy capacity, ensuring events have female representation and are provided at staggered times (since women’s schedules often preclude them from evening events).
Events for alumnae
WIN organizes a variety of events including:
- Events with female keynote speakers, such as former Ivey dean Carol Stephenson, who shared the leadership lessons she learned and how they shaped her illustrious 40-year career in both the private and public sector; and Colleen Johnston, former TD Bank CFO, who shared her personal and professional anecdotes about being a woman in business and how she made her mark on Bay Street; and,
- Events focused on skills development, such as one on improving negotiation skills and navigating the networking matrix, featuring a Leadership Development Specialist from Reach Capabilities.
This fall, WIN is hoping to engage all alumni with a book club that looks at gendered design and how to design more inclusively, as well as a workshop developed by an Ivey alumna that focuses on subtracting from the ’Supposed To’ list in order to create room for time-crunched working mothers.
Learn more
Visit the website or contact Andrea Coletta, EMBA ’14, Executive Board Member, Alumnae Committee Chair, and Co-founder, Women of Ivey Network; or Kristine Beese, MBA ’10, Alumnae Committee Member and Co-founder, Women of Ivey Network.
I had the great fortune of meeting some impressive female leaders when completing my Executive MBA at Ivey. In my graduating class, nearly half was made up of women, and it was incredible to see the classroom filled with women I could identify with and see myself represented equally, which is not always the case in business settings and boardrooms. It's important that we engage the entire alumni network on ways to further ensure women are represented and supported and to advocate for the advancement of women and leverage our impressive network to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of our alumnae. It's also important to engage male advocates in our alumni community in the conversation, who are also doing incredible things to ensure women are equally represented in business.”
– Andrea Coletta, EMBA ’14, Executive Board Member, Alumnae Committee Chair and Co-founder, Women of Ivey Network
