Women in Business Club Creates Camaraderie, Community
Originally published Feb. 11, 2025, at daniels.du.edu/blog.
Daniels WIB board members
The University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business is home to many affinity groups that support diverse, marginalized and underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students—a crucial component of the College’s commitment to inclusive excellence. One of those organizations, the graduate Women in Business (WiB) club, has a long history and strong presence within Daniels graduate programs and beyond, bridging the student experience and the thriving Denver business community.
WiB has a seven-member board of directors who plan and promote the organization’s events for the benefit of female-identifying students and allies from all Daniels graduate programs. As of February 2025, the organization’s newsletter distribution list has 110 active students and alumni, which is how it counts its members.
Board members are president Courtney Howell, co-vice presidents Claire Westergren and Lexi Haskins, Gabie Bueschel, Lillie Klemmer, Emma Bourgraf and Chloe Treaster—all second-year students in the full-time Denver MBA program. WiB’s staff advisors are Berta Nicknish, director of Graduate Student Services, and Lexi Warden, assistant director of the Daniels Corporate and Community Relations.
“Serving on the board and working together on the events, newsletters, marketing and recruiting has created such a tight-knit relationship between all of us,” Bueschel said.
The events WiB hosts help women in Daniels’ graduate programs develop leadership skills, volunteer together and cultivate strong professional networks.
“Through Women in Business, members are able to broaden their sense of community, engage in a safe space for female professionals in the business industry, and have the opportunity to network and grow professionally in a constantly changing field,” Howell said.
WiB membership is free, and joining is as simple as filling out the organization’s Google signup form to receive the weekly newsletter about upcoming events.
Though membership ebbs and flows with each incoming and graduating class, the club has remained dedicated to “providing this increasing population of women with a sense of community and collaboration, access to strong female role models, and education on topics that matter to them,” since 2006. The group is deeply rooted in its values of cooperation, courage, inclusiveness, openness, respect and service (in addition to the Daniels values of community, excellence and ethics).
Members also benefit from getting to know women from other graduate programs, who they otherwise might not meet. “That is really helpful to broaden our networks,” Bueschel added.
Most WiB events are open to both members and non-members, including women in graduate programs who haven’t yet joined, people of all genders, friends and supporters from outside the College. Some special ticketed events are reserved for outside women in business programs and female business professionals, in line with the club’s mission to increase career opportunities for women.
Bueschel says the club tries to host a panel event, a philanthropic event and a skills-based workshop each quarter.
Upcoming events
WiB’s next event is “Breaking Barriers: From College to Career,” which will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, in the Burwell Center, room 340. A collaboration with the Daniels Women in Business Alumni Group and Entrepreneurship@DU, the event will include a panel discussion with three alumnae about their experiences leveraging their graduate degrees into successful entrepreneurial careers. The panel will be followed by open networking, refreshments, and a community service project creating “Galentine’s Day” cards for the nonprofit leadership organization Girls Inc. Participants can register through Crimson Connect.
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, WiB will host a resume-building workshop for members to fine-tune their resumes and discuss tips for navigating networking conversations. It’s an opportunity for those preparing to graduate in the spring or seeking a summer internship. Participants can register online.
The graduate WiB club can be reached at danielsWiB@gmail.com or on LinkedIn. Daniels also has a Women in Business club for undergraduate students, which can be reached at DanielsUndergradWiB@gmail.com.
