Women in Business Club

Women in Business Club

Founded in 2019, Women in Business is a student-led initiative that works closely with a College of Business faculty advisor, Dr. Alexandra Dunn. Together, the group plans events to empower female students and develop their skills, knowledge, and networks to succeed in their business-related careers. The program focuses on leadership development, mentoring, and fostering a supportive community among undergraduate female-identifying business students. The program also discusses gender-specific challenges in the workplace, building confidence in students to navigate and excel in their careers.

The Women in Business initiative supports students in reaching their personal and professional goals and building their confidence to enter the workforce through:

• Monthly meetings with students, the faculty advisor, and female community leaders to discuss student-selected topics (e.g., interview preparation, conflict resolution, navigating difficult conversations, gaining confidence to negotiate).
• Raising awareness of women-centered challenges in the workplace through on-campus events (e.g., annual Women’s Week events, celebrating Women’s Entrepreneurial Day and International Women’s Day, collecting items for Pink Tax drives and donating to campus resource closets and local shelters).
• Creating engagement opportunities for undergraduate students and the Fredericksburg business community.
• Providing safe and supportive environments to build skills and increase confidence and competence for long-term success (e.g., public speaking, meeting facilitation, role-playing difficult scenarios).    

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @umwwib
• Email: umwwib@gmail.com
• Faculty advisor email: adunn4@umw.edu

Get involved:
Students can be involved in three ways:

• Become a member: Attend the interest meeting to learn about our schedule for the semester and attend the monthly meetings.
• Become an ambassador: At the end of each semester, students who have been active members will have the opportunity to apply to be a Women in Business Ambassador.  WIB seeks ambassadors who promote and support the mission of the Initiative, have additional time to commit to meetings, functions, and event planning and are interested in taking leadership roles within the Initiative.
  • Ambassador roles include:
    • Marketing & Outreach Coordinator
    • Events Coordinator
    • Financial Analyst
    • Membership & Engagement Coordinator
    • Media Team Lead
  • Information regarding the application will be sent to the Women in Business student email list when applications open.
• Gain leadership experience on the Leadership Council: Take on an even larger role by joining the Leadership Council. The Leadership Council is expected to attend all meetings, serve one or two semesters as ambassador first, and be in your senior year. As a member of the LC, you’ll be involved with planning our yearly calendar, mentoring the ambassadors, and coordinating and communicating closely with the faculty advisor.

For more information and to get on the student email list, please email: umwwib@gmail.com

The community can get involved as well! Here’s how.

• Attend monthly meetings: We are always looking for women in the Fredericksburg community to attend our monthly meetings. Please reach out to Dr. Alexandra Dunn (adunn4@umw.edu) for more information.
  • Sample topics include negotiation, having crucial one-on-one conversations, creating work-life balance, increasing confidence when speaking in large groups, and gaining respect in male-dominated environments.
• Mentoring opportunities: Interested in coaching and mentoring students one-on-one or in small groups? We’d love to set something up!
• Supporting student-planned events: Do you want to support the program, but perhaps don’t have time? Any donations to the program will go directly towards student-planned events. We appreciate you thinking of us!