Women's MBA Network History

In 2004, four members of the Wharton Women's Network met for lunch and talked about how they would benefit from increased support and dialogue with other women professionals. Each woman reached out to other women MBAs and together created an informal network of female alumnae from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, Drexel University's LeBow College of Business, and Temple University's Fox School of Business.

These women began meeting regularly for lunch, during which they planned professional development events for other women. The common bond among these women was a dedication to supporting one another and to creating programming that would also support other women in the region. After two years of meeting for lunch and planning events, this informal group of women formed the Women's MBA Network which would be a forum for collaboration among women representing business schools in the Philadelphia region and beyond.

In December 2006, the Women's MBA Network hosted a luncheon for the leaders of over 30 women's professional organizations as a way to reach out to the broader community. This luncheon was a pivotal moment for the Women's MBA Network, as it brought to light the need for women to collaborate across groups, across industries, and across affiliations in order to achieve their goals.

As a result of the first Women's Leader Lunch, the Women's MBA Network adopted a collaborative approach to its work, and began partnering with other women's groups in planning its Professional Development Events. The Women's MBA Network also founded and continues to facilitate the Professional Women's Super Network of the Delaware Valley and coordinates all the SuperNetworking Events, which bring together over 40 professional women's organizations for two special evenings of networking each year.

In 2007, the Women's MBA Network received its 501(c)3 status. The Women's MBA Network is currently a volunteer-led organization with diverse Board members who represent alumnae from major regional and national business schools, as well as women from other professions who are dedicated to supporting women's leadership in the Philadelphia region.