F&E CWEL Thought Leadership

As the business landscape continues to change, the Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (F&E CWEL) is dedicated to giving it's students and the broader ecosystem the tools and information needed to succeed. At F&E CWEL, we participate in a number of activities in thought leadership as they relate to women's entrepreneurial leadership. From disseminating major faculty research and hosting global convenings of thought leaders, to creating programs and unique hands-on learning opportunities for students, we are dedicated to advancing the gender acumen and opportunities for all of our stakeholders.

F&E CWEL supports and disseminates research that focuses on the economic value that women, as business leaders, create. We do this, in part, through our International Diana Initiatives. Those include: 

The Diana International Research Institute:

• The Diana Project - the 1st major report identifying the extensive gender gap in venture financing
• The Diana International Research Institute - the first global research institute in the world dedicated to being the source of all research, policy, and educator information about women’s entrepreneurship. Become a member here.
• Diana Impact Day - first global convening of investors, accelerators, policy-makers, researchers, women entrepreneurs, and other disrupters who are dedicated to changing the landscape of financing women entrepreneurs. 
• Diana Research Conference - bringing together more than 100 scholars worldwide, providing an annual forum to share global research dedicated to asking and answering questions about women entrepreneurs and how they grow their ventures.

The Dean's Gender Series:

Presented through the support of the Office of the Undergraduate Dean, the Dean’s Gender Series is an annual event that brings high-profile thought-leaders to our Wellesley campus. The 2019 Dean’s Gender Series featured Jason Rosario, Founder and Executive Producer of The Lives of Men.

Faculty Research:

The F&E CWEL and Babson boast a lively, supportive and growing community of faculty who do innovative research on women and gender, leadership and entrepreneurship. Here we showcase this research in divisions across the College, as well as the Babson Faculty Gender Research gatherings we hold regularly to foster collaboration and mutual support.

Publications:

Alongside the journey of owning a business, women face unique challenges as they launch and grow. Whether you're looking for retail opportunities or trying to raise a seed round, we look at what's going on in the ecosystem and generate easily digestible content for you to explore. Highlights include:

• The Gender Investment Gap.
• Women Entrepreneurs Get Creative Around Fundraising. Read it here >>
• Entrepreneurs are Punished for Stereotypically Feminine Behaviors in the Pitch Room. Read it here >>
• To Scale Startups, Female Founders Think Beyond VC. Read it here >>
• Women Entrepreneurs Underestimate Themselves: What Can We Do About It. Read it here >>
• To Increase Gender Diversity, We Need to Go Back to School. Read it here >>
• Three lessons learned in Creating Gender Balanced Entrepreneurship. Read it here >>