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Members of the YWLL planning committee posing with a sign for the event

Giving New Haven’s Young Leaders a Boost

May 3, 2024
Now in its ninth year, the Young Women’s Leadership Launch brings high school students to SOM to hear from women leaders and develop professional skills. Leigh Bushnell ’24, co-chair of this year’s event, looks back.

One Saturday in February, Evans Hall saw some unusual visitors: a group of 65 high school students, who had come to Yale SOM for the ninth annual Young Women’s Leadership Launch (YWLL). Organized by the SOM Women in Management club, YWLL is an educational event that exposes young leaders from New Haven and the surrounding communities to career fields in which women are traditionally underrepresented, such as finance and STEM.

Structured around the theme “Building Bridges: Advocating for Yourself and Others,” this year’s event aimed to empower students to find their authentic voices and become purposeful, impact-driven leaders. Jill Pemberton, North America chief financial officer of the luxury brand conglomerate LVMH, started the day with a keynote address that shared highlights from her career journey discussed the role that sponsorship and mentorship have played in her professional life. An alumna of Harvard Business School, Jill led an intimate round-table chat with SOM students after her talk.

Beloved SOM professor Judy Chevalier closed out a jam-packed day with a keynote about the importance of advocating for yourself as a student and professional. Professor Chevalier ended her session by asking volunteers to roleplay a conversation between a boss and employee, an exercise that encouraged students to speak up for themselves.

A student leading a workshop in a classroom
Conference attendees sitting at tables in a large classroom
Jill Pemberton, North America chief financial officer of LVMH, speaking at a podium
Top left: Alice Mao leads a design-thinking workshop. Bottom left: Samanta Cubias leads an interactive drama workshop. Right: Jill Pemberton delivers a keynote address.

In addition to our keynote speakers, the event was made possible by our team of 27 wonderful student volunteers from SOM, the School of the Environment, and the David Geffen School of Drama. Volunteers led interactive workshops, talked about their work experience, and gave advice on preparing for college. To help attendees articulate their goals for college and beyond, conference co-chair Alice Mao guided the students through a design thinking workshop similar to one that SOM’s Career Development Office provides to first-year students. Samanta Cubias, a student at SOM and the Geffen School, led drama exercises to help students practice self-reflection and become comfortable speaking in front of their peers.

Leading YWLL was a fun way to flex skills from my pre-SOM roles, from managing teams to developing marketing campaigns and planning events. Although I enjoyed the planning process, my favorite part was seeing how engaged and excited the students were to be there on the day itself. Like Jill—and I’m sure, like most of my SOM peers—I feel that mentors have been instrumental to my professional life. Mentoring younger students through YWLL has been a highlight of my time at SOM.