Wharton Women wraps up membership month

For Wharton Women members, perks aren’t limited to just another networking event invitation.

Wharton Women just wrapped up their February Membership Month, with events tailored to each class year as well as to prospective members. Freshmen were invited to a chocolate dinner downtown at Max Brenner, sophomores dined at Pattaya, juniors relaxed from on-campus recruiting for a dinner, while seniors got manicures at Lacquer Lounge.

WW is the largest undergraduate student organization that serves to empower women, by incorporating aspects of philanthropy, socialization, professionalism, networking and education into their events.

President of Wharton Women and Wharton junior Amanda Russoniello said the club is currently looking to reach out to women in schools other than Wharton.

“We’re always looking to bring more leaders to campus. We love all different industries. If you don’t know what you want to do, it exposes you to all these different industries without having to choose right away,” she said.

Amongst the most esteemed organizations on campus, WW is also one of the most well-funded. With over 30 sponsors — including Capital One, The Blackstone Group, Bank of America and Deloitte — great funding means extra perks.

“The events we host differentiates [Wharton Women] from other Wharton clubs,” Vice President of Marketing and Wharton sophomore Erin Lo said. “We give back to the community while providing insightful tips for the working world.”

Several of their events are geared toward philanthropy while providing insightful tips for promoting professionalism. Contributing to Women’s Week, they held a resume workshop where Penn’s Career Services guided them through improving their resumes and cover letters.

In their “Dress in the Professional World” event, members were able to walk down a runway as models and have their makeup done by Bobbi Brown makeup artists.

Wharton Women also brings in renowned keynote speakers. Over the past few years, they have brought in the CCO of Modell’s Sporting Goods Deborah Fine, Vice President of Lilly Pulitzer Michelle Kelly, CEO of Gilt Michelle Peluso and American talk show host Bethenny Frankel.

Though “networking” is a cliched term among Whartonites, the members of Wharton Women have strong ties with one another.

“What really distinguishes Wharton Women from other clubs is that we really are a family,” Vice President of Membership and Wharton freshman Nadia Govotsos said.

She helped run their “Freshman Buddies” program, connecting freshmen with upperclassmen.

Besides this program, several upperclassmen and alumni are known to reach out to underclassmen to help with career advice and general Penn advice. They had an alumnae mixer in New York this past year, introducing many of their members to their alumnae in a variety of different industries from marketing to finance to consulting, and even to news casting.

“As an underclassmen, I’ve been exposed to so many Wharton women. It’s great how they have graduated and are still willing to help with careers and edit my resume at the annual dinner. Once a Wharton woman, always a Wharton woman,” Govotsos said.

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