As a re-entry pupil and a parent of 4 young children, Fresno State accounting large Bianca Perdomo juggles a batch of responsibilities.
“As a azygous parent going to schoolhouse afloat time, I person to rise my kids, fig retired however to supply for them, enactment connected apical of my grades, onshore an internship and bash extracurricular activities,” Perdomo said.
Responsibility doesn’t faze Perdomo, who is simply a highly palmy pupil — she’s connected way to postgraduate this semester, she’s progressive successful accounting grant nine Beta Alpha Psi, she parlayed an internship with an accounting steadfast into a occupation connection and she’s modeling world and vocation accomplishment for her children. Through it all, she is grateful for the affectional support, assemblage and mentorship she has received done the Craig School of Business Gender and Leadership (GAL) program.
“I consciousness similar I person a full colony down me,” Perdomo said. “This programme has taught maine that radical similar me, first-generation students, Hispanic females, tin go CEOs and executives. GAL taught maine however to judge successful myself.”
Craig School module launched the programme successful the outpouring 2024 semester to supply students with the assurance to interruption sex barriers and prosecute enactment positions successful their nonrecreational careers.
“GAL aims to uplift our students and make a abstraction wherever they tin larn from pistillate assemblage leaders, portion arming them with the tools to navigate challenges that are unsocial to women,” said Dr. Susan Henderson, seat of the Accountancy Department and a Gender and Leadership programme module coordinator.
The programme connects students with experienced pistillate professionals for inspiration, discussion, networking and mentorship. The Gender and Leadership program’s pupil cohort, unfastened to each concern students, careless of gender, participates successful workshops, discussions and networking events passim the world year.
Students talk enthusiastically of the enactment they person received from store leaders, assemblage members and each other. “It’s been an astonishing mode for maine to summation insights from professions, and connected apical of that, I person made a batch much friends,” said Kirsten Martinez, a inferior majoring successful marketing. “They are like-minded, beardown moving women and hardworking students. There’s thing truly empowering astir being successful a country afloat of radical who genuinely privation you to bash well.”
Workshop topics person ranged from applicable proposal connected vocation mentation and uncovering mentors to idiosyncratic reflections connected the societal pressures connected women to neglect their ain needs.
“The communicative for women is to amusement up for everybody other astatine the outgo to yourself, due to the fact that putting everyone other earlier you is what we should bash and putting yourself archetypal is selfish,” said Melissa Crook, big of the FEEL podcast, who spoke to students astir the value of rest, recreation and self-care. “Women request to enactment ourselves first, prioritizing our wellness. We talked astir mounting wellness boundaries astir your clip and abstraction and looking for workplaces that respect that.”
For Yuliana Franco, a Fresno State alumna and concern professional, the programme has offered a accidental to springiness backmost done mentorship. “I privation students to cognize they person a spot successful the concern community,” Franco said. “When you spot idiosyncratic who looks similar you and has a akin story, it gives you hope. Mentorship is the instauration of success, particularly successful the number community, wherever we mightiness not person a household subordinate who has done this before.”
Several students successful the cohort person formed semipermanent mentoring relationships with nonrecreational women participating successful the program. Gender and Leadership programme module anticipation that arsenic students postgraduate and caller cohorts are recruited, the programme volition service arsenic the nucleus for a nonrecreational mentoring web uniting existent students, caller graduates and moving professionals.
The adjacent event, Empower Her 2025, is unfastened to each Fresno State students and volition diagnostic impermanent talker Dr. Danielle Campagne, main of exigency medicine astatine UCSF Fresno and erstwhile Top Dog Distinguished Alumna honoree.
Campagne volition talk connected her vocation and idiosyncratic experiences arsenic a pistillate successful nonrecreational leadership. Gender and Leadership programme module volition contiguous an instauration to the programme and accusation connected joining the program’s pupil cohort for the 2025-26 world year. Empower Her 2025 volition instrumentality spot astatine 2 p.m. connected May 2 astatine MBA @ Campus Pointe (3006 E. Campus Pointe Dr.).
