Future CEOs (Chicks Embracing Opportunities)

Forward thinking and leadership development are not just discussion topics for ambitious adults. Training the leaders of tomorrow must start today with youth. "Future CEOs" illustrates this important concept and my idea of an annual women's conference for high school females transforms this idea into a reality. The young women’s conference is essentially a day of training for motivated high school women interested in pursuing careers in business. It will offer the resources and people necessary for youth to start becoming the owners, managers, and financiers of their own careers. In sum, I aim to organize opportunities for and encouragement to high school females to help them take ownership of their dreams, to be the CEOs of their own future, and to strive for leadership positions in business-related industries of their interest. The name "Future CEOs" encapsulates the broader vision of this work: to spawn young women to act on their professional dreams. Research has shown girls’ academic outcomes at a school level improving over time. However, challenges still exist post-schooling that prevent females from advancing towards gender equality in the workforce and thus the attainment of positions of leadership in Corporate America's top business firms. Future CEOs has decided to confront this macro trend on a micro scale, focusing on its development in the Boston community. Working under a student organization in the Harvard community, Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business, the project aims to fill the void of women executives by equipping the young women of today with the tools necessary to become the dynamic and powerful CEOs, presidents, and chairwomen of tomorrow.