April 01, 2016

For Kelly Doutrich, the 2016 Women’s Leadership Symposium in New York City proved how valuable of a career resource Susquehanna’s alumni network is.

Susquehanna Trustee Mary Cianni served as a keynote speaker for the business school’s 2015 and 2016 Women’s Leadership Symposium.

“The university tells us all the time we should reach out to alumni for help, but I always shied away from it because I felt like I would be bothering whoever I reached out to,” says the junior business administration-marketing major from Lancaster, Pa.

Doutrich was one of 24 women students from Susquehanna’s Sigmund Weis School of Business who attended the symposium at the New York Athletic Club in February. They networked with 10 successful women executives who are Susquehanna graduates working in the city.

The first day, students split into small groups and met with alumnae who gave them a tour of their places of business, which included American Express, Horizon Media, JPMorgan and Prudential.

The second day, students participated in résumé reviews and mock interviews, and learned about such topics as salary negotiation and knowing one’s value.

Four student leaders helped organize the trip. “Having attended before, I thought it was important to take on a leadership role at the symposium this year because there were a lot of freshman who attended,” says Manouchka Paulemont, a senior majoring in business administration-global management. “Many of them had never networked before or have never been to company visits.”

Student travel expenses were made possible by donations from trustee Lisa Ryan ’78 Burke, Helen Nunn, director emerita of financial aid, and her partner Caroll Blank, and the Women’s Leadership Fund, established by Janet Fowler ’68 Grey to support experiential leadership opportunities for female students enrolled at Susquehanna. Burke and fellow trustee Mary Cianni gave keynote addresses at the event as well.

“I cannot wait to someday pay forward the strong support I have been given, and have the opportunity to empower future generations of female business leaders like others have done for me,” says sophomore Bailey Baralt, a student leader majoring in luxury brand marketing and management.

“This trip gave me more confidence in myself,” Doutrich concludes. “I had no idea what it was going to be like, and it exceeded my expectations.”

Read more stories from the Sigmund Weis School of Business in the spring 2016 issue of Ventures.