Foster MBAs Mix it Up with the Forté Foundation

About the author: Jessica Raasch is an MBA candidate in Foster’s full-time class of 2018. She is passionate about improving the ways in which businesses identify and develop future leaders, an interest she discovered during her pre-MBA career in finance and accounting. At Foster, Jessica is proud to represent the first-year class on the board of Women in Business and she serves as a mentor to students in the Undergraduate Women in Business Club. She is also a Forté Fellow and a Dean’s Merit Scholar.

On December 7, I joined several women from Foster at Forté Mix It Up: Seattle. About 30 MBA women gathered at the event to network with other students and alumnae from Forté Foundation sponsor schools. While the mixer was a week before finals, I’m glad I made time to squeeze one more event into the fall quarter.

Arrion Rathsack, Forté’s Associate Director of Student and Alumnae Relations, gave a brief keynote address. She spoke about the work Forté does to advance women into meaningful business careers. She also revealed that Amazon will host the next annual Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference right here in Seattle.

Jessica Raasch, Full-time MBA Class of 2018

So… what is the Forté Foundation?
It’s a non-profit consortium of companies and business schools, working together to launch women into fulfilling, significant careers. The Forté Foundation aims to enhance women’s access to business education and career opportunities, and to create a community of successful women.
Forté admits a small selection of Sponsor Schools who pass a rigorous application process. Foster became a Forté Sponsor School in the spring of 2016. All current Foster students are now eligible to join the Forté Foundation for free while enrolled at Foster. By joining Forté, students can access a rich curriculum of events and webinars, a host of career resources, and a robust network of companies and business leaders.

…and what’s next?

If you’re not familiar with the Forté Foundation, visit their website to learn more. Also, if you’re a current Foster student, I encourage you to sign up for your free membership now. In my role as a first-year representative to Women in Business, I’ll be working hard this year to bring Forté’s resources to the women of Foster and to integrate Forté’s curriculum into WiB’s programming.

Also, you may have heard that Foster awarded Forté Fellowships to 12 women from the full-time class of 2018. Looking forward, we’ll be presenting a series of blog posts to introduce each of the women from the inaugural class of Forté Fellows. Additionally, we’ll highlight some of the work they’re doing as representatives of Foster in the Forté Foundation. Stay tuned!

Originally posted on the Foster MBAA Women In Business Blog on January 2, 2017.