Our History
2000
10 Harvard women founded Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business (HUWIB). The first conference, "Preparing to Lead", attracted 250 participants.
2002
HUWIB held its first-ever WIBternship, where 40 new Associates were inducted into the organization. HUWIB headed to New York City for its first Corporate Outreach trip.
2005
HUWIB held its first annual Intercollegiate Business Convention (IBC), attracting nearly 400 students from schools across New England.
2006
HUWIB went on its first Career Exploration Trip to San Francisco, California, visiting companies in different industries. HUWIB also launched the mini-MBA curriculum designed to educate Associates and to develop important business skills. HUWIB debuted the first issue of its annual magazine, Make It Happen, which has since then evolved into The Glass Floor.
2007
HUWIB introduced a variety of programs including business school prep events, career development events, and the Externship Program. The WIBternship program grew 30% and HUWIB welcomed 185 new undergraduate women to the organization. HUWIB also launched the Corporate Mentorship Program and Young Women in Business (YWIB).
2009
HUWIB worked with two other student groups to organize the first annual Women’s Stock Pitch Competition. HUWIB introduced an annual Women’s Business Convention (now renamed International Women in Business [IWIB]) and a Social Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition (now renamed the Innovation Challenge).
2010
HUWIB Undergraduate and Alumnae Boards collaborated to celebrate the HUWIB Decennial and create a HUWIB Advisory Board, comprised of leading professional women and men in the business world. HUWIB saw the largest WIBtern class ever with over 150 new members in the fall.
2014
HUWIB celebrated IBC’s tenth anniversary, with a record attendance of over 1,200 students. Keynotes included New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson, Chanel CEO Maureen Chiquet, and model-coder Lyndsey Scott. We also traveled on our second international Career Exploratory trip to Shanghai and hosted our first ever “WIB Week” to showcase HUWIB’s exceptional programming.
2017
HUWIB launched The Young Women Business Leadership Conference (YWBLC), now known as the Business Oriented Leadership Development (BOLD) conference, which brought together over 150 high school women throughout the nation who shared a passion for business, and built a community of support and empowerment.
2018
HUWIB launched The Glass Floor, an online women’s business publication written by Harvard students and working professionals.
2019
The Diversity Committee was launched and led its inaugural Social Impact Conference (SIC), which provides a day dedicated to discussion on diversity within fields of social impact, innovation, and philanthropy.
2020
HUWIB created its own brokerage account and official investing arm of the organization, under the Finance Committee. HUWIB also launched the HUWIB Shop to more easily order HUWIB merchandise in an online format.
2021
The Philanthropy Committee was launched and led the first WIB Gala benefiting Bright Pink to prevent breast and ovarian cancer in young women.