On the morning of October 16th, the Ivy College of Business hosted the Young Women in Business Conference at the Memorial Union. Around 200 students in grades 9-12 from across Iowa gathered to hear several speakers and participate in breakout sessions throughout the day designed to encourage young women to explore majors and careers in the business world. Now in its ninth year, Faculty Chair of the event and Ivy College of Business professor Jennifer Kreiser hopes the conference continues to have a big impact.

“I hope that [students] learn how many opportunities are available with business and that they get an idea that business is not just sitting behind a desk and working on a computer all day.” said Kreiser.

One of the speakers students got to hear from was Miriam De Dios Woodward, an Iowa State alumni who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in both marketing and management and later from the University of Iowa with a Master of Business Administration degree. Today, she is CEO of both Coopera Consulting and PolicyWorks, as well as Senior Vice President of Affiliates Management Company. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for Grand View University, and as a board director for the Food Bank of Iowa.

One of the things Woodward touched on was how she never saw businesswomen in the media as a child. ”I always looked for a woman in a suit on tv, and I don’t remember any that I could really look up to.” Woodward said. “Specifically women of hispanic heritage like myself, that was probably out of the question.”

When talking about her success since graduation, Woodward stressed the importance of seeing the bigger picture and helping others along the way, and quoted a concept she called  “Doing well by doing good.”

“A company can grow and be successful by helping its partners, its customers and its communities be successful.” Woodward said.

Among the students attending the conference was Kyrie Schut, a senior from Ankeny High School.

“I’m hoping to narrow my major down to something more specific and I am excited to see all the opportunities here.” Schut said.

“I’ve been coming for the last three years.” said Isabelle Rydell, a senior from Spencer High School. “I’m excited to learn a lot of new things that I haven’t gotten to learn in high school.”