April 01, 2017

Now in its third year, the business school’s Women’s Leadership Symposium in New York City continues to grow. This year’s event, held March 24-25 at the Westin Hotel in Times Square, included 25 students, seven faculty members and nearly 30 alumni affiliated with companies like Marsh, Horizon Media and American Express.

En route to the Big Apple, students visited alumni working at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Once in Manhattan, they toured alumni workplaces, attended mock interviews, received one-on-one résumé reviews, and heard keynote addresses by Susquehanna trustees Elisabeth “Lisa” Ryan ’78 Burke and Mary Cianni.

“The alumni reinforced the idea that women should be treated equally in the workplace—that women can do the same job as a man and be just as successful, if not more,” said Sarah Derrick ’18, a luxury brand marketing and management major from Flanders, N.J.

In addition to increased participation and programming, this year’s symposium also included a new student-learning opportunity. Last year, student leader positions were added to help plan and execute the symposium. Now the program includes an internship position, filled this year by Derrick.

“I want to go into event planning, so this internship was a great opportunity,” said Derrick, who was responsible for doing everything from booking the hotel, rooms and food, to organizing meetings with students and creating the program itinerary.

And thanks to the school’s commitment, Derrick is confident the symposium—and the career-building opportunities it creates—will continue for a long time.

“The faculty at the business school are very passionate about the symposium. Now that it is established, more and more alumni are expressing interest in taking part, and more students are expressing interest in attending,” she said.