Great on the Job - Handout

Communicate for Success
Presented by Jodi Glickman.

Click here to download the handout!

Conference Photos Posted!

Check out the MBA Women's Conference Photos from this year's conference:

Did you take photos at the conference? If so, we would love to see them and post them to Flickr and conference blog. Email Jessica Cowan at jessica@fortefoundation.org.

Just Announced: Webinar with Connie Duckworth, Founder of ARZU STUDIO HOPE

Monday, July 26th at 12-1pm Central - Register for this online event today.
Join Connie K. Duckworth, Founder and CEO of ARZU STUDIO HOPE and retired partner of Goldman Sachs & Co., as she discusses her journey from Wall Street to the streets of Afghanistan. Connie will be sharing her experiences past (the first woman sales and trading partner in GS history during her 20 year career there) and present (the CEO of a unique social business enterprise empowering women in Afghanistan) as well as answering your questions! Please submit any topics or questions you would like addressed to dmcanany@arzustudiohope.org by July 20 5pm CST. To learn more about Connie and ARZU STUDIO HOPE please visit http://www.arzustudiohope.org/.
Click here to register.

Check Out These Presenter Resources From the Conference

Whether you were unable to attend or would like even more information post-conference about our presenters, we've provided a listing of resources including books, handouts from the event and links to presenter's websites.


Presenters Slides and Handouts
•Jodi Glickman Brown, Presenter of Friday's Communicating for Success session - Slides
•Saturday's Embracing Social Enterprise session - Handout

Featured Publications
•Networking for Career Success
& The Networking Survival Guide
by Diane Darling

•New Job, New You
& How'd You Score that Gig
by Alexandra Levit

•The Next Generation of Women Leaders
by Selena Rezvani

Featured Resources
•MBA Math
Peter Regan

•Great on the Job
Jodi Glickman

Tell Us What You Think

If you haven’t done so already, please take a few minutes and fill out the Conference Feedback Questionnaire. Your opinion is important to us—your feedback helps us with programming and logistics planning for next year’s conference! Click here to get started: MBA Women's Conference Questionnaire. If you were unable to attend the MBA Women's Conference, please answer the questions that apply to you.

Thank you!

Exclusive Offer to Conference Participants: Receive 15% off the purchase of ARZU STUDIO HOPE Rugs

ARZU STUDIO HOPE Founder and CEO Connie K. Duckworth was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Forté Conference luncheon in Chicago on June 19, 2010. As a thank you, she extends an exclusive offer to conference participants - receive 15% off the purchase of ARZI STUDION HOPE Rugs.

Contact ARZU STUDIO HOPE Director of Global Sales Susan Mackenzie at 312.321.8663 or smackenzie@arzustudiohope.org. Offer applies to all in-stock rugs purchased directly through ARZU STUDIO HOPE. Please mention that you are part of the Forté Foundation Network to receive the 15% discount. Visit www.arzustudiohope.org to view rug collections and to learn more.

Win an ARZU STUDIO HOPE rug at Saturday's Conference Luncheon!

Don't forget - Forte MBA Students have the opportunity to win an ARZU STUDIO HOPE rug simply by recruiting members to the ARZU Facebook Cause page "Empower Women of Afghanistan" (http://bit.ly/bnm4Hu).

The student who recruits the most new members before June 18 12pmCST will win an ARZU STUDIO HOPE Simplicity rug valued at $500!!!

See post Exclusive Opportunity for Forte Foundation MBA Students for more details.

10 Things to Know Before You Go: Forté MBA Women's Conference

With the Forté MBA Women's Conference a little over one week out, we've been busy these last few months planning content that is sure to enrich your MBA education and beyond. Unlike other events of its kind, this conference takes an in-depth look at issues that are unlikely to be explored in the business school classroom.

To help get you ready for this event, we've included the "top 10" things to know before you go. These updates and important information will help make your experience at the Forté MBA Women's Conference a success!

1. The Agenda
2. The Presenters
3. Organizations & Companies participating
4. Companies that will exhibit at the MBA Company Expo
5. Forté Foundation Sponsor Profile Book - Get an in-depth look at the organizations that support us
6. Networking List - see who's registered to date and feel free to contact registrants before the conference (for privacy reasons we're unable to post this list. If you would like the list and you're registered, please email us.)
7. Location, Hotel (it's not too late...there are still a few hotel rooms available) & Transportation Information
8. What to Wear / What to Bring
9. Company Expo Webinar Recording - Prepare to Network with Participating Companies
10. Important Information about Friday's Networking Reception

If you have questions, please email them to forte@fortefoundation.org.

See you soon!

-The Forté Foundation

The Sustainable MBA: The Manager's Guide to Green Business

I am often approached by students who are interested in sustainability and want a career in this area. This is exciting and I am always happy to give advice when I can to show graduates how they can have a positive impact in the world through their jobs, whatever job that might be. The good news is that there are many ways to go about it.

A first step is to use your MBA as an opportunity to start gathering information and learning about sustainability and what parts of sustainability you are most interested in. Click here for 10 ways to turn any MBA into a Sustainable MBA.

Once you graduate and start working there are ways to bring sustainability into your job, regardless of whether you have the word sustainability in your job title. For some more ideas read 8 ways to bring sustainability into any job.

Finally, it is important that you do your research. My book, The Sustainable MBA: The Manager's Guide to Green Business aims to ensure that the next generation of business leaders have the ability to not just understand what sustainability is all about, but how to put it into practice. It is a guide for those interested in what the business sector can and is doing in business and sustainability with lots of tips on how to get involved and how to bring these ideas into your job, whatever job that might be.

It is organized like a business school course - allowing easy access to information on sustainability and Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Finance, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Operations and Strategy. For more information and to follow my blog visit www.thesustainablemba.com or Amazon.

For more tips and tools for finding a job in this area be sure to attend the Introduction to Socially Responsible Careers panel on June 18th at 3.30pm. See you there!

Exclusive Opportunity for Forte Foundation MBA Students!

ARZU STUDIO HOPE needs your help spreading hope - Join our Facebook Cause page "Empower Women of Afghanistan" (http://bit.ly/bnm4Hu) and share with your friends and networks. The Forte student who recruits the most new members before the Chicago conference June 18-19 will win their very own unique ARZU STUDIO HOPE rug!

ARZU STUDIO HOPE is a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization. ARZU, which means "hope" in Dari, is an innovative model of social entrepreneurship that creates private sector jobs and funds sustainable community development through the sale of high-quality artisan rugs hand-knotted by destitute women weavers in rural Afghanistan.

Connie K. Duckworth, Founder and CEO of ARZU STUDIO HOPE, will be the keynote speaker at the Women’s Conference luncheon in Chicago on June 19. To learn more about ARZU STUDIO HOPE please visit our website and follow us on Facebook!


More details about the contest:

*winner must be part of Forte Foundation student network

*winner will be determined by highest number of recruits as of 12:00pmCST June 18

*winner will be announced at June 19 Forte luncheon

*winner need not be in attendance at event to win

Early Deadline to Register Ends Friday, May 28

Haven't registered yet? Do so before Friday, May 28 and receive the early registration fee of $50. On May 29, registration will increase to $75. Don't wait!

Visit: http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MBAWomensConference_Register to register!

Math Prep: Build Your Quantitative IQ Workshop

People learn best when they are trying to understand something that directly affects them. The ongoing global credit crisis will shape the business climate that determines your summer internship and post-MBA opportunities.

Not only is the ongoing credit crisis of global importance, its quantitative foundations are eminently understandable. I have designed the two-hour quantitative skills workshop at the upcoming Forte Women's Conference like an MBA class in the sense that participants should devote an hour or two of advance preparation using the materials at www.mbamath.com/events/forte.htm so that we can extend and apply that preparation in the workshop.

The workshop won't make you an expert but it will highlight the quantitative mechanics underlying bond valuation, financial leverage, securitization, and balance sheet implosions. You'll also get a preview of the quantitative reasoning you'll need in your upcoming MBA classes.

This post and the upcoming workshop come as I preside over an annual summer surge of pre-MBA quant skills preparation at MBA Math, which you can see in the image of last year's activity.

Not everyone needs additional quantitative preparation. But for those who do, be aware that your time is limited as you transition back to school and you'll be sitting in fall term classes before you know it.

I look forward to meeting many of you at this year's conference.

Peter Regan created the self-paced, online MBA Math quantitative skills course and teaches live MBA courses at Dartmouth (Tuck), Duke (Fuqua), and Cornell (Johnson).

Forté Company Expo Webinar - Tuesday, May 25

Know Before You Go—Prepare to Network with Companies at the Forté MBA Women’s Conference
Click here to register.

Preparing to network with companies at the MBA Women’s Conference is more than just brushing up your resume. You also need to practice your “approach”. What is your 30-second pitch? What is the story by which you want companies to remember you?

This webinar lead by Caitlin McLaughlin, Vice President - Corporate and Institutional Banking Training at PNC Bank and Former Managing Director at Citigroup will provide tips on networking with companies at the conference and following up with them afterwards.

Join this interactive session to:
• Assess your career goals - Make sure to visit last year's Resume and Self Assessment Pre-conference Webinar to get a refresher
• Hone your story—get advice on crafting your 30-second pitch and your personal statement
• Learn how to approach recruiters one-on-one and in a crowd
• Follow up—what can you do this summer to enrich future interactions with companies?

Click here to register.

6 Tips for Landing Your Dream Job

As unattainable as a dream job might sound, with the right amount of forethought and preparation, you can make the move as well. Here are six tips to get you started:

1) Learn about yourself. Take time to do a self-assessment of your values, how you like to work, and what you’d be compelled to do even if you never got paid. Research careers and industries that map to your skills and interests. Hit the Internet, set up informational interviews, take relevant coursework, and arrange to go onsite at a company in your chosen field.

2) Don’t be deterred by a lack of experience. In developing a resume and other promotional materials for the field you want to pursue, think about how your current skills and talents apply to the responsibilities you’ll hold in the new job. For example, knowledge of project management, client relations, information technology, and sales will take you far in most types of careers.

3) Ease into a new career one foot at a time. Perhaps this means earning a paycheck at your current job while doing a part-time internship in your new field or taking an adult education class or workshop on the weekend. The only way to find out if you’re passionate about something is to try it – ideally with as little risk as you can manage.

4) Remember that any progress is good progress. Even confident people stay in unsatisfying jobs because they feel safe, and because they’re afraid of making a bad decision. But in the quest to uncover a source of meaningful work, though, your worst enemy is inertia. Make an effort to do one thing, like e-mailing a networking contact or attending an event – that moves you a bit closer to your big picture goal.

5) Start early. Younger professionals have more flexibility when it comes to test-driving different careers. The process of self-discovery is much easier when you’re unencumbered by family responsibilities and substantial financial burdens, and when you haven’t yet reached a level in a career where it’s tougher to turn back.

6) Have realistic expectations. Even if you’re lucky enough to hold your dream job, there’s no such thing as the perfect work situation. Every job has its ups and downs, and aspects we love and aspects we don’t love. And dream job doesn’t mean “cushy” job. As your mom always told you, anything worth having in this world requires some effort. There will be some days you feel like shutting the alarm off and going back to sleep, but many more where you feel more energized by the prospect of work than you ever thought possible!

Want to learn more about landing your dream career? I hope you'll attend my session at the Forte MBA Conference this June!

Alexandra Levit is a Wall Street Journal columnist and an adviser to the Obama administration on workplace issues. She’s the author of New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career.

Come Learn about What it Takes to Lead!

In today’s world, it’s not enough to be a good student or merely competent at your job. Women who secure seats at the top echelons of business use specific techniques for building influence. Beyond delivering exceptional results, they behave, communicate and utilize their power strategically to garner respect.

Please join my session “Cultivating Leadership Skills: What You Won’t Learn in Business School” and explore how successful women find their leadership voice. We’ll look at practical how-tos for negotiating the workplace, shaping a career with meaning, and championing your own needs by advocating for professional growth and advancement.

You will come away from this session with some of the most critical lessons shared in my book: learning how to make the right impression from the start, gaining a seat at the table, and showing that you have something valuable to say and should be listened to.


-Selena Rezvani, Author of "The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won't Learn in Business School."

Early Bird Raffle Deadline Tomorrow

Thinking about registering for the MBA Women's Conference? Don't wait! Take advantage of the opportunity to possibly win 1 of 2 shopping sprees being given away at the conference. When you register before April 20, you're automatically entered into a drawing to win!

DEADLINE TOMORROW, APRIL 20. To learn more and register go to: www.fortefoundation.org/mbaconf

The 2009 Forté MBA Women’s Conference: A Powerful Beginning to my MBA Career

Attending the 2009 Forté MBA Women’s Conference was one of the best decisions I made in preparation of my MBA education at Babson. After working for four years at the national women’s nonprofit Step Up Women’s Network, I was eager to gain the female perspective on the MBA experience. The Forté conference served as a MBA primer of sorts – both personally and professionally. Personally, it provided me with direct access to impressive women from across the country who were in exactly the same life phase as I was. I only knew a few other males who were about to embark on the MBA journey so connecting with these women was very important to me. As I attended workshops and listened to dynamic speakers, I was reassured that both the excitement and anxieties I felt about beginning business school were very normal. Professionally, the workshops introduced me to critical topics and skills I would need to master before school began.

In terms of networking, I met two key female allies at the conference that have proven to be valuable connections. The first was a fellow conference attendee who planned to attend a different MBA program. We certainly didn’t let the distance of our respective schools stop us. We bonded and to this day remain friends. As fate would have it, we will soon be reuniting as participants in Duke MBA Games! The second woman was a soon-to-be second year student at Babson. The time we shared at the conference provided a critical platform for our relationship throughout my first year. Since our initial meeting she has served as an incredible support by providing advice on classes, clubs and internship hunting. The conference also introduced me to leaders at key companies that proved to be valuable in my internship hunt.

All in all, the Forté conference set the stage for my MBA career. It provided me with information, access and a dose of inspiration about the exciting life that lied ahead in business school.

-Alexa Brandt, Forté Fellow, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College

MBA Women's Conference: Lead the Way

For the first time women outnumber men in the overall workforce, but a quick look at the senior ranks of business shows that we still have progress to make. And that progress starts with investing in you—our future women business leaders.  Forté Foundation’s mission is to do just that—encourage and support women like you into business leadership. To benefit from this encouragement and support first-hand, we want you to be with us at our MBA Women’s Conference in Chicago this June. I know your summer will be busy—full of legitimate distractions like needing to work one more day to finish up an important project, starting a summer internship, squeezing in one last vacation before starting school , etc.”  But believe me, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Forte’s conference draws women from the best business schools and this year we expect to have close to 500 women in attendance. The timing of the conference gives you early access to companies and industry information, and builds the skills that will give you a leg up on the competition when you start your program in the fall. Because of our relationship with sponsoring companies and business schools, Forté is uniquely positioned to gather MBA women to explore career opportunities, network, and hear from women business leaders with an MBA who are highly capable advisors for current MBA women on their path to success.  Very few opportunities like this exist for MBA women. And because you’ve been admitted into a Forte sponsor school you are exclusively invited to take advantage of this one.

Perhaps a few words from last year’s attendees about how the conference impacted them will help paint the picture: “The networking opportunities were incredible. I was able to meet women from all different backgrounds and cities and plan to keep in touch with them throughout my academic and professional career.”

“This conference kicked me into high gear as I prepare to start my MBA. It was very comforting to be around bright women from across the country who are in the exact same life phase as I am.”

“It was very inspiring to see corporate women in high level positions who are confident and comfortable in leadership positions.”

This year our theme is Working for Change: Make your Mark, Lead the Way. Since change seems to be the norm these days, embrace it and make it work for you. Change the face of business leadership so that it reflects your priorities--more integrity? a more balanced life? business that  impacts the greater good? Which of these is most important to you? Join the conversation at Forte’s conference and be a part of how women will change business leadership.  We know that women lead differently and define success differently, and you have the power and responsibility to Working for Change: Make your Mark, Lead the Way.

I encourage you to make the time for this important conference and kick off your MBA career in grand style. If you’ve already registered, block your calendars and visit this blog regularly for the latest conference news, and if you haven’t –make the commitment to be with us!