Cornell University Women's Entrepreneurship Certificate

Earlier this spring, I earned a Certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from the Bank of America Institute at Cornell University. It was a fantastic program that emphasized leadership, law, finance, business planning, and access to capital with an undercurrent of overcoming challenges unique to women in leadership. The lived experiences of my peers in the program were powerful testaments of why we need women at the helm; their businesses were unique and provided innovative solutions, the participants were inspirational leaders who overcame enormous obstacles, and the group as a whole were passionate about community engagement, leading from the heart, and using our skills to make our communities stronger and more vibrant.

Having worked with entrepreneurs this past decade, the shared hurdles weren’t new, but working through them as a group was a wonderful opportunity to shift the lens toward scalability and resiliency. The one-on-one conversations I had with my classmates were insightful as we iterated on philanthropy and leveraging business to give back.

It is a shame that in 2020 women are still facing these enormous institutional barriers to success, but I am very grateful that programs like this provide new tools for emerging leaders to build and grow. When we lift one another up, we can overcome, and programs like this institute do just that. I am incredibly grateful to Bank of America and the Tory Burch Foundation for the opportunity to participate and to Cornell for delivering the best curriculum I’ve seen since graduate school.

If you are a woman entrepreneur and you’d like to connect, I’m happy to share my experience and see how we can work together to advance your business.