A-State women’s leadership group partners with Forte Foundation

EducationNews BriefsNortheast Arkansas

by George Jared ([email protected]) ago 0 views 

The Women’s Business Leadership Center (WBLC) at Arkansas State University is now part of the Forté Foundation. The Foundation is a consortium that focuses on advancing women’s careers in business.

“A-State is the only Forté Foundation partner university in Arkansas. Forté provides us with the opportunity to network and learn from top female executives and leaders in major companies and organizations,” said Dr. Patricia Quinn Robertson Johnston, executive director of the Women’s Business Leadership Center.

Johnston said the Forté Foundation is an alliance of individuals, companies and universities that support Forte’s mission to help guide women to success.

Since its launch in 2016, WBLC has served the A-State community with a variety of programs, including Step Up, Reach Back which provides mentorship, as well as service and career readiness programs.

“After carefully reviewing Forté’s mission and programming, we determined that it would be a great fit for our ambitious, curious, bold, and hard-working WBLC students,” said Johnston.

WBLC was accepted as a partner earlier this year.

“The partnership will allow WBLC students the opportunity to attend Forté leadership conferences and events for women leaders across the U.S.

Johnston said this year alone, more than 30 students have traveled to conferences in New York and Georgia thanks to WBLC and Forté.

“Many of these students cannot afford the flight, conference fees, and hotel expenses, so we are very grateful that through this partnership, the funding is provided,” said Johnston.

She added that Forte chooses “forward-thinking” universities to with which to partner.

“We are honored to provide the resources to help more women lead. A-State is working hard to provide special opportunities for our students that are not available at many other universities,” she said.

Through this partnership, undergraduate students have the opportunity to earn a career-ready certificate through Forte.

“We are grateful to our WBLC donors, faculty, and staff at A-State who have made it possible for all A-State women to participate in Forté for free,” said Johnston.