FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY (August 11, 2005) – As the Forté Foundation prepares to launch its fourth annual series of Forté Forums presenting the “MBA Value Proposition” to thousands of prospective women MBA candidates in 10 cities in the U.S. and abroad, its corporate members have been named by Fortune as among the “50 Most Desirable MBA Employers.”
Forté Foundation is a consortium of leading corporations, top business schools, and influential non-profits that have banded together to inspire and direct women into business leadership positions.
All 13 of Forté’s corporate members or their parent companies appeared among Fortune’s recent “50 Most Desirable MBA Employers.” They are Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Dell, Inc., Deutsche Bank, Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young LLP, Fidelity Investments, Goldman, Sachs & Co., IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Company, and Kraft Foods.
“This list reflects the commitment of our corporate members to engage and sustain the interest of the next generation of MBA talent,” said Elissa Ellis, Executive Director of Forté Foundation. “In our work together, our companies demonstrate this dedication by tackling the tough issues facing the women business leaders of tomorrow.”
Forté is partnering with its members to encourage women to pursue an MBA through its annual Forté Forum event series, “The MBA Value Proposition.” This ten-city series of informational and networking events features panels of women, who are fairly recent alumnae of Forté business schools and who represent diverse industries and roles, offering candid perspectives on the challenges and rewards of attaining the MBA credential. The Forté Forums also enable attendees to speak informally with Forté business schools to gain guidance on preparing, applying and interviewing for business school.
The 2005 Forté Forums series will kick-off September 12, 2005 in New York and then travel to Boston; Washington, DC; Chicago; Atlanta; Dallas; Los Angeles; San Francisco; London, and Paris.
Forté Foundation was originally called to action by a landmark research study, Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity, looking at why women are under-represented in leading business schools compared with medical or law schools. It was founded in 2001 to address this inequity and its impact on the business landscape.
Since then Forté has reached thousands of MBA prospects through its Forté Forums, supported MBA candidates with nearly $4million in scholarships through the Forté Scholarship program, and provided hundreds of undergraduate summer interns with professional development workshops through its annual Intern Symposiums. And, it has expanded its agenda to reach college-aged women and MBA alumnae, and to create partnerships with academic and advocacy groups.
“Our members have understood from the beginning the urgent need attract female talent to business schools and the workforce,” Ms. Ellis adds. “That’s why they put aside competitive differences to forge solutions to the challenges that can dissuade women from business leadership.”
“We have learned through our research that knowledge about business opportunities is only part of the formula – women must also gain access to strong business networks to succeed,” added Edith A. Hunt, Forté Board of Directors Chair. Ms. Hunt is co-chief operating officer of the Human Capital Management Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co., responsible for global recruiting, training and diversity, and a member of the Partnership Committee.
To register or obtain more information, see www.fortefoundation.org .
Forté Member companies are: Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Dell, Inc., Deutsche Bank, Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young LLP, Fidelity Investments, Goldman, Sachs & Co., IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Company, and Kraft Foods.
Forté Member business schools are: F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College; Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University; Columbia Business School; Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at University of Virginia; The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University; Goizueta Business School at Emory University; Harvard Business School; HEC-Paris; INSEAD; The Johnson School of Management at Cornell University; The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina; London Business School; Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California; McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas; Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stern School of Business at New York University; Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University; Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College; University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan; The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and Yale School of Management.
Forté Member non-profits are: The Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) and The Committee of 200.
About the Fortune survey:
To pick the 100 Most Desirable MBA Employers for Fortune, Universum Communications surveyed 4,713 students (1,534 women, 3,179 men) at 50 top business schools nationwide. Students were asked to choose the five companies they would most like to work for from a list of 157 companies. The list of companies students select from was compiled from the companies that appeared on the previous year’s ranking of desirable employers, plus any company that received a high number of write-in votes in the previous year’s survey. Students were also given the opportunity to write in the name of any company they would like to work for that did not appear on the list.
ABOUT FORTÉ Forté is a nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving gender parity at all levels of business. Forté works closely with business schools, corporations, and universities to ensure women have access to opportunities at every stage in their careers. Forté offers a wide variety of resources, including MBA prep, professional development, leadership education, and a diverse community of successful women. For more information, visit fortefoundation.org.
Media contacts: Michele Vana, BCW Global, michele.vana@bcw-global.com; Katie Stanfield, Forté Foundation, katies@fortefoundation.org