Vanderbilt Women in Business

What Vanderbilt Women in Business does

Vanderbilt Women in Business (WiB) is a non-profit, student-led professional development organization founded in 2016 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates as an affinity space for self-identifying women undergraduates at Vanderbilt, with a community of 1,000+ students served through an Executive Board of 10, a Senior Board of 13, and a Programming Board of 45 across seven committees. WiB's core product is a portfolio of five programs: a Speaker Series featuring high-profile female business leaders; a Mentorship Program matching approximately 20 students per semester with businesswomen; a 10-week virtual Externship Program placing 25-30 students per semester with 40+ partner companies; a Nashville MakHERs Market pop-up marketplace supporting female-owned businesses; and Campus Engagement events hosting corporate recruiters from Google, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and Bain Capital among others.

WiB's business model relies on tiered corporate sponsorships (Bronze $500, Silver $1,000, Gold $2,000) and individual donations routed through Vanderbilt University's donation portal. Named corporate sponsors include Goldman Sachs (through its 'Launch with GS' initiative), Capital One, Boston Consulting Group, Google, Deloitte, Bain Capital, Facebook/Meta, and American Airlines. The organization is structurally non-commercial: leadership is volunteer, membership is free for Vanderbilt students, and MakHERs Market proceeds pass through to vendors and partner charities (including $7,300+ donated to Thistle Farms). WiB's underlying "technology" is its programming infrastructure — Squarespace website, AnchorLink membership platform, and a network of corporate and alumni relationships — rather than proprietary software or IP.

The organization's strategic positioning is community-focused rather than outcomes-oriented, explicitly differentiated from other Vanderbilt business organizations by emphasizing non-judgmental professional development rooted in equity and intersectional feminism. It serves as a recruiting pipeline for major employers (Bank of America, Mastercard, McKinsey, BCG, EY, American Express placements among recent graduates) and as a vendor-support platform for Nashville-area female entrepreneurs, generating $59,000+ in vendor revenue through MakHERs Market events.

Name

Vanderbilt Women in Business

Legal name

Vanderbilt University Women in Business

Website

https://vanderbiltwib.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vanderbilt Women in Business is a non-profit, student-led professional development organization at Vanderbilt University serving 1,000+ undergraduate women through mentorship, externships, speaker events, and the MakHERs Market, funded by tiered corporate sponsorships and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville, TN

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate Sponsorships: WiB generates revenue through tiered corporate sponsorship packages (Bronze $500, Silver $1,000, Gold $2,000) that provide advertising, social media promotion, resume book access, and logo placement for sponsoring companies.
2. Donations: Individual donations are accepted through Vanderbilt University's donation portal, with contributions designated to 'Undergraduate Women in Business'.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Vanderbilt Women in Business (WiB) is a student-led, non-profit professional development organization at Vanderbilt University that delivers programs for self-identifying women undergraduates, including an annual Speaker Series, semester Mentorship matching (~20 mentees per cohort), a 10-week virtual Externship Program placing 25-30 students per semester with partner companies, Campus Engagement events with recruiters, and the semi-annual Nashville MakHERs Market supporting female-owned small businesses. Programming is delivered free to Vanderbilt students and funded through tiered corporate sponsorships and donations.

Product overview

Vanderbilt Women in Business operates as a student-led organization offering a portfolio of professional development programs rather than a technology product. The core offerings include the Speaker Series (annual flagship event with prominent female business leaders), the Mentorship Program (semester-based matching of ~20 undergraduates with Nashville businesswomen), the Externship Program (10-week virtual internship placement with 25-30 students per semester), the Nashville MakHERs Market (semester pop-up marketplace for female-owned businesses), and Campus Engagement (networking events and career workshops with top firms). These programs are delivered through their Squarespace-based website and utilize third-party platforms like AnchorLink for membership management and Google Calendar for scheduling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Nashville MakHERs Market: A mission-driven, pop-up event empowering female-owned businesses in a philanthropic marketplace, partnering with small businesses to support local consumerism, sustainable fashion, and uplift women in the Nashville community.
• WiB Externship Program
• WiB Mentorship Program

Products and services

• Speaker Series Annual flagship event featuring high-profile female business leaders who share their paths to success, providing Vanderbilt undergraduates with exposure to various facets of the business industry. Past events have drawn 180+ undergraduates.
• Mentorship Program Semester-long program matching approximately 20 undergraduate students with successful Nashville businesswomen across the country, featuring curated workshops and one-on-one mentorship relationships for professional skill development.
• Externship Program 10-week virtual part-time unpaid internship program matching student interns with Nashville firms and companies across the country based on learning objectives and intended skill sets. Accepts 25-30 students per semester plus a summer cohort, partnering with 40+ companies and non-profits.
• Nashville MakHERs Market Semester pop-up marketplace empowering female-owned businesses in a mission-driven, philanthropic event partnering with small businesses to support local consumerism, sustainable fashion, and uplift women in the Nashville community. Has generated $59,000+ in vendor revenue for female entrepreneurs and $7,300+ in donations to Thistle Farms.
• Campus Engagement Program Private networking sessions, career workshops, and one large career event per semester connecting Vanderbilt WiB members with recruiters from firms including Google, Deloitte, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs, and McKinsey.
• Corporate Sponsorship Packages Tiered corporate sponsorship packages (Bronze $500, Silver $1,000, Gold $2,000) that provide companies with newsletter advertising, social media promotion, resume book access, and logo placement for Vanderbilt WiB.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 students served across membership
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 40+ Companies and Non-profits (Externship Program)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024WiB's Externship Program partners with over 40 companies and non-profit organizations across industries including finance, tech, accounting, PR, entertainment, sports business, and more. Companies are located in Nashville and across the country, providing diverse externship opportunities for Vanderbilt women.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wharton Women in Business (Penn): University-affiliated Women in Business student organization at the Wharton School (UPenn). Directly comparable to Vanderbilt WiB as an undergraduate business affinity organization offering mentorship, speaker series, and career programming, but anchored at a larger and more business-school-centric campus.
• Harvard Women in Business: Undergraduate Women in Business organization at Harvard College, founded in 2014. Closest peer to Vanderbilt WiB in mission (empowering undergraduate women in business), programming model (mentorship, speakers, conferences), and student-led non-profit structure.
• NYU Stern Women in Business: Undergraduate Women in Business student organization at NYU Stern. Comparable in structure (student-run, mentorship + speaker programming, corporate sponsors), serving a different but analogous urban undergraduate business community.
• Columbia Women in Business: Student-run Women in Business organization at Columbia University. Comparable to Vanderbilt WiB in offering mentorship, speaker panels, recruiting events, and an annual conference, while operating in a different but adjacent university ecosystem.
• MIT Sloan Women in Business: MIT Sloan-affiliated Women in Business organization. Comparable to Vanderbilt WiB in offering mentorship, conference programming, and corporate recruiting events, though it leans more graduate/MBA than undergraduate.
• Kellogg Women in Business (Northwestern): Northwestern Kellogg-affiliated Women in Business organization. Comparable in student-run structure, mentorship, conference programming, and corporate sponsor base, but skewed toward MBA students rather than undergraduates.
• Berkeley Haas Women in Business: UC Berkeley Haas-affiliated Women in Business organization. Comparable in providing mentorship, speaker series, and corporate recruiting for women pursuing business careers at a top-tier university.
• Chicago Booth Women in Business: University of Chicago Booth-affiliated Women in Business organization. Comparable in mission and corporate-sponsored programming model, though primarily MBA-focused versus Vanderbilt WiB's undergraduate orientation.
• Yale Women in Business: Undergraduate Women in Business organization at Yale University. Comparable to Vanderbilt WiB in targeting undergraduate women with mentorship, speaker programming, and recruiting events.

Others

• Goldman Sachs Launch with GS: Goldman Sachs's $1B corporate initiative to increase access to capital for women, Black, Latinx, and diverse entrepreneurs. Listed as a flagship WiB partner and a useful comparison for the corporate DEI-funding pipeline that WiB's sponsorship model depends on.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/vanderbiltwomeninbusiness
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vanderbilt-women-in-business
• Instagraminstagram.com/vanderbiltwib

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vanderbilt Women in Business