TORI.TIMMONS
Undergraduate Women in Business (UWiB) is a club at the University of Washington. It really isn’t your average club, though. Our organization is a non-profit with a 501(c)(3) status. Our organization gives a scholarship to a member every year. Our organization brings people together from different majors and different walks of life to discuss the challenges that women still face in the workplace. Our mission is to connect and prepare the next generation of female business leaders. We do this by creating networking and learning opportunities for our members and others in our community. This manifests as events with guest speakers, panelists, round robin networking nights, and big events like our Annual Fundraiser and Closing The Gap event.
I joined the organization during spring of 2015. My role in UWiB transitioned from member to officer in spring of 2016. Everything between these two milestones has shaped me personally and professionally. As a member, the most important part of this club was the community I belonged to and the strides I was making in personal and professional development. My officer role is titled Director of Fundraiser. This means that in addition to having a leader title with the organization, I also help to plan and execute our Annual Fundraiser. The “Paving The Way” Fundraiser is to raise money for UWiB’s endowment, which funds the annual scholarship. The work I have done in this role has really shown me all the work that goes into the events that the organization puts on, and I have really seen how hard the executive team works to ensure that we continue to offer an engaging and productive experience for members.
UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN IN BUSINESS
2015 - 2017
UWIB 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - JANUARY 2016
COMPETENCIES
Over the last year, we have transitioned to a much more inclusive environment. Our organization has tried to target a wider variety of majors, because we know that regardless of what one is studying, professional development is always helpful. This goal has offered its fair share of challenges. Primarily, due to the name of the organization, we have had a hard time motivating individuals who do not identify as women or are not interested in the business major to attend our events. To compensate for this, we have done more tabling in other parts of campus, we have reached out to professors of different departments, and we have created events targeted particularly to other genders. Closing The Gap, an event we held in February 2017, was designed for exactly this purpose. We reached out to female and male speakers from attractive companies to talk about how they are supporting gender equality in the workplace, and how we can take actionable steps to do the same. The purpose of the event to start a conversation about fighting gender inequality in our greater community, and we believe that it was successful. This is another event that our team is hoping will become an annual occasion.
One of my favourite parts of UWiB, and is the reason I remained a part of the organization, is how good I felt leaving meetings. When I attended our regular Tuesday-night events, I felt strong. I felt empowered. I felt valued. This is also why I decided to join the executive team, to foster this same uplifting environment. In many ways, we empower the members of UWiB to sit at the table, show others their talents, and fight for other disadvantaged people. We empower them to be supportive and to be philanthropic.
My goal at each meeting is to reach out to someone new, or have a conversation with someone that I haven't seen in awhile or have never seen before. I think this is one of the most important things our team does, but it also the most difficult. Many UWiB members have become good friends of mine as a result of earlier interactions, and it can be difficult to not spend the entire time catching up. We also have committees, designed to empower the ladies who join our club. And I help to facilitate one in preparation for the fundraiser. The ladies who join our team are tasked with reaching out to companies in the Seattle area to donate items to our silent auction. This is no small task and is certainly daunting for our younger and newer members.
I worked to empower these ladies to build up the confidence to do this through open communication and leading-by-example. It's one thing to support these members through encouraging words. It is another to empower them by also doing the tasks you're asking them to do, and relaying how I have grown since I first started sending these donation requests. Not only does this add to their personal and professional development, but it gives them a stake in the organization and in the fundraiser, fostering a greater commitment to UWiB as a whole.
I strongly believe that UWiB’s mission and events do actually serve our community. Outside of this, UWiB also has philanthropic efforts. Though I volunteered in high school, and have participated in community service, UWiB events opened my eyes to the different ways in which a person can offer service.
UWiB's regular weekly events are usually professional in nature and we are open to the business school and other communities. I really think anyone and everyone can benefit from what our speakers have to say and the topics we cover in workshops. UWiB has also built a great reputation in the Seattle community and, by extension, a great reputation for our school. Our mission and our actions towards connecting and preparing women as leaders bring a positive impact to the classes we all take, the group projects we all must partake in, and the organizations that are inclusive.
We also have philanthropy efforts, in which service is more obvious. Every year, we participate in the business school's service week. This year we facilitated a canned food drive (and procured more nonperishable goods than any other club) and went out in the rain to pick up trash in our neighbourhood. We also work with a women's homeless shelter every Halloween to have a costume party. UWiB is also a proud participant in UW's Relay for Life event each year. The list goes on and on!
In the past, we have been fortunate to have a sponsorship from a local company to fund our philanthropy events. That funding ceased at the start of this academic year. So we faced the challenge of making an equal or greater impact in comparison with previous years, without a budget. This has broadened my eyes in terms of how we can be philanthropic. This led us to host my favourite event, which was a holiday party where we wrote and decorated holiday cards for hospitalized kids.
My experiences with UWiB have varied, but the constant throughout are the wonderful women I have met and developed friendships with. I am grateful for all the opportunities that UWiB has opened up for me. I see my role as Director of Fundraiser as a time to give back to the organization that has built me.
ARTIFACTS
EMPOWERING FUTURE FEMALE BUSINESS LEADERS
In an effort to further acknowledge, educate, and promote women in business, UWiB hosts an annual fundraiser. With the belief that our members are our most valuable asset and a more than worthy investment, proceeds from this unique event will benefit the endowed Undergraduate Women in Business Scholarship Fund. Over the past nine years, UWiB has raised over $120,000 from our fundraiser to support our scholarship. We are proud to award a deserving UWiB member a $3,000 scholarship every year but look forward to the day we can fully fund a member’s annual tuition. The “Paving the Way” Fundraiser is also an opportunity for UWiB to thank and honor women in leadership who are “paving the way” for future female business leaders.
Every year UWiB recognizes one Seattle professional as the UWiB “Woman of the Year” for her professional success, commitment to the Seattle community, and embodiment of UWiB’s values. This year, UWiB recognized Britt Peterson Fero, Principal at PB& as the UWiB “Woman of the Year.” We also celebrated Christy Khoury, a junior at the Foster School of Business, as our scholarship recipient this year and had the chance to hear from our wonderful faculty advisor, Leta Beard, and UWiB's co-founders, Amber Waisanen and Raychael Jensen.
The 10th Annual "Paving The Way" Scholarship Dinner and Fundraiser was the culmination of my entire year's work, and that of the rest of UWiB's executive team. Though the night was a stressful whirlwind for me, we raised more money than we ever have before! I am so honoured I had the opportunity to represent UWiB in front of this crowd, and I cannot wait to attend the fundraiser as a guest in the future.