When Women Work Together, It’s a Bond Unlike Any Other
As a recent grad looking back on my time in BOND, I am continually grateful for how rigorous BOND is in its pursuit of self-reflection as an entity. BOND is the original and oldest consulting group on campus, and yet is so willing to take the necessary risks and leaps to make fundamental changes in pursuit of serving its members further and serving the greater Ann Arbor community more.The result? BOND focuses on the holistic person, and how it can better develop you as an analyst, a leader, a thinker, a human being. And in my case, a businesswoman.
As a freshman in BOND, I came into the organization noticing a stark minority of female members in an org of 40. After entering my second project in my second semester, I had joined yet another team that only had one other girl. By nature of the number of voices in the room, it became apparent to me that the female voice wasn’t getting the air time and outlet it needed. Seeking to create a sustainable way to better amplify the female perspective in a male-dominated field, I proposed an idea to sitting President Rohan Sinha: BONDw, a network of female BOND members and a platform for mentorship, relationship building, a new way of sourcing members, and a way to ensure that BOND women were prepared for real world experiences.
During my time in undergrad, I interned for McKinsey Solutions on a team in the manufacturing software space. My team was sprinkled across various offices nationwide, but one evening, we all met in Chicago for dinner. I had known by then that I was the only woman on my team's function, but it didn't become vividly apparent to me until we sat down and I was the only woman there. While this circumstance is not a unique one, I felt uniquely prepared to participate in conversation and do so confidently after my experiences in BOND. Having BONDw formally launch soon after that summer meant enabling future female consultants to have a blueprint for navigating male-dominated teams in academia and the workplace.
To future and incoming female BOND consultants: we cannot wait to hear and champion your ideas, your voice, your challenges, you. Thank you, BOND, for championing mine, and thank you, alumna Megg Meneguzzi, for pushing me to apply to BOND in the first place.