The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre offers a wide variety of panel events, workshops and a flagship annual conference to foster thought leadership, dialogue and action. Join us to engage in discussion and action for gender diversity in the workplace

Upcoming events

There are currently no WLC events. Please check back soon or check the Business School's main event section for other events that might be of interest to you.

Past events

2022

8 Oct | Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2022 | Cambridge

The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre eighth annual conference: ‘Breaking the Bias’, offered an exciting day comprising of a keynote, panel discussions and workshops by outstanding industry leaders and renowned Cambridge academics.

2021

14 Oct | Professor Sucheta Nadkarni Research Seminar Series 2021 | Online

In honour of our friend and colleague, the late Professor Sucheta Nadkarni, we were thrilled to announce the return of the Professor Sucheta Nadkarni Research Seminar for its second year. This year’s seminar, entitled Don’t be left holding the mop – examined gender differences in participation in and rewarding for office work versus office housework, and was given by Dr Isabella Grabner, Professor of Strategy and Managerial Accounting at Vienna University of Economics and Business.

7 Jun | Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2021 | Online

The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre was thrilled to announce the return of its annual conference. The conference provided a fantastic programme of keynote conversations and panel discussions, from 7-11 June. The series of lunchtime events delivered a thought-provoking series from outstanding leaders.

22 Feb | Women in Entrepreneurship Panel | Cambridge

The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre in partnership with the Wo+Men’s Leadership SIG. This panel discussion will focus on women entrepreneurs’ experiences raising money through angel investors and VCs. The aim of the Women in Entrepreneurship panel event is to inspire and inform Cambridge Judge students considering a career in entrepreneurship.

2020

13 Oct | The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre Professor Sucheta Nadkarni Research Seminar Series | Online

In memory of our friend and colleague, we were delighted to launch the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre Professor Sucheta Nadkarni Research Seminar Series to honour Sucheta’s research and generosity mentoring students. The inaugural Professor Sucheta Nadkarni Research Seminar was given by Dr Lionel Paolella – presenting the paper that he was collaborating on with Sucheta at the time of her passing: A Licence to Tick-off the Box: Female Representation in Top Management and Organisational Diversity Priority.

28 Jan | Women in Finance Panel | Cambridge

The Wo+men’s Leadership Centre in partnership with the MBA and MFin programme. The financial services industry offers a multitude of often well-compensated career advancement opportunities for MBA and MFin graduates, yet women remain largely underrepresented. The aim of the Women in Finance panel event is to inspire and inform Cambridge Judge Business School students considering a career in Finance.

2019

8 Jun | Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2019 | Cambridge

Cambridge Judge Business School hosted its fifth conference dedicated to Women’s Leadership on Saturday 8 June. The theme for this year’s conference was Building Balance, where we were debating the issue of gender diversity within organisations and how men and women can work together to better the world!

2018

25 Oct | 2018 Women in Tech Challenge: Microsoft & GSK | Cambridge

The event aimed to encourage more females to enter the tech sector and tech roles, through close collaborations with companies that are leaders in their fields. The workshop brought together 70 women from across the University of Cambridge to work together in groups to solve big strategic issues facing tech organisations.

9 Jun | Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2018 | Cambridge

Cambridge Judge Business School hosted its fourth conference dedicated to Women’s Leadership on Saturday 9 June. The theme, ‘Growing Talent: Fostering Collective Success’, address the tools, relationships and mindset behind building and defining, either at a personal or organisational level, a successful career as well as topics of gender equality and evolving workplace dynamics while focusing on how both genders can work together to empower each other to achieve their goals across industries and cultures.

17 May | Behind the Scenes of China’s Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions | Cambridge

Jennifer Yu, Chairman of Rothschild Global Advisory, China, spoke about her experiences deal-making within China’s outbound mergers and acquisitions market. Explaining the facts behind the growth and trends of China’s outbound investment.

16 Feb | The Executive MBA: Preparing Women for the Challenges of Executive Careers | Cambridge

In this event Professor Sucheta Nadkarni explored the importance of gender diversity at the senior management level, and how women can proactively prepare themselves for senior leadership positions.

25 Oct | 2018 Women in Tech Challenge: Microsoft & GSK | Cambridge

The event aimed to encourage more females to enter the tech sector and tech roles, through close collaborations with companies that are leaders in their fields. The workshop brought together 70 women from across the University of Cambridge to work together in groups to solve big strategic issues facing tech organisations.

9 Jun | Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2018 | Cambridge

Cambridge Judge Business School hosted its fourth conference dedicated to Women’s Leadership on Saturday 9 June. The theme, ‘Growing Talent: Fostering Collective Success’, address the tools, relationships and mindset behind building and defining, either at a personal or organisational level, a successful career as well as topics of gender equality and evolving workplace dynamics while focusing on how both genders can work together to empower each other to achieve their goals across industries and cultures.

17 May | Behind the Scenes of China’s Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions | Cambridge

Jennifer Yu, Chairman of Rothschild Global Advisory, China, spoke about her experiences deal-making within China’s outbound mergers and acquisitions market. Explaining the facts behind the growth and trends of China’s outbound investment.

16 Feb | The Executive MBA: Preparing Women for the Challenges of Executive Careers | Cambridge

In this event Professor Sucheta Nadkarni explored the importance of gender diversity at the senior management level, and how women can proactively prepare themselves for senior leadership positions.

2017

7 Nov | Fireside chat with Dr Louise Beaumont, Co-Chair of the Open Bank Working Group and CEO of Vector Associates | Cambridge

The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre Special Interest Group was pleased to welcome Dr Louise Beaumont to School to discuss her professional experience in finance and leadership roles. The ‘fireside’ event enabled audience members to discuss a variety of topics with Dr Beaumont and the wider group.

23 Oct | 2017 The Amazon Think Big Challenge | Cambridge

Female graduate students from across the University of Cambridge interested in embarking on technology careers came together on 23 October 2017 to compete in the Amazon Think Big Challenge.

10 Jun | Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2017 | Cambridge

Cambridge Judge Business School hosted its third conference dedicated to Women’s Leadership on Saturday 10 June. The theme, ‘Finding Balance’, addressed questions around work-life balance and what this entails for both men and women and also examined how we achieve gender balance across industries.

11 Mar | Women’s brunch: “Gender diversity at business school and beyond” | London

This brunch in London gave insight into how the Cambridge MBA can help women access their potential and put them on the path to an accelerated or leadership role. Professor Sucheta Nadkarni, Director of the Cambridge Judge Business School Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre spoke about her latest research and her work to drive the gender equality debate through the Centre.

8 Mar | Women Should Have It All: Chivalry and Equal Pay | Cambridge

As part of International Women’s Day the Women’s Leadership Special Interest Group hosted a debate titled “Women Should Have It All: Chivalry and Equal Pay” which was well received and had balanced participation.

24 Jan | Webinar – Preparing Women for the Challenges of Executive Careers | Online

In this interactive webinar, Professor Sucheta Nadkarni discussed how women can seize these opportunities and how they can proactively prepare themselves for the opportunities and challenges of executive positions through building confidence and personal power and leadership skills as part of clearly planned long-term career strategies.

16 Jan | Hackathon Challenge | Cambridge

Female graduate students from a wide range of backgrounds, including business, engineering, bio-technology and medicine, came together to compete in a Hackathon Challenge. The event, organised by the Wo+Men’s Leadership Initiative at Cambridge Judge Business School, Newnham College and Microsoft, invited students from STEMM disciplines at the University of Cambridge and current students at Cambridge Judge and asked them to come up with creative ideas to tackle technological challenges.

2016

2 Dec | Women’s Leadership Initiatives Disenfranchise Men | Cambridge

This roundtable discussion. organised by the Women’s Leadership Special Interest Group took place at Cambridge Judge Business School. Participation at this event was very balanced with both female and male faculty and students taking part.

27 Sep | Looking Beyond Corporate Boards: Drivers of Female Representation in Executive Roles | London

At this briefing Professor Nadkarni shared findings of her award-winning research on the global enablers and inhibitors of women in corporate boardrooms where she examined how economic, cultural, political and regulatory factors in different countries shape female board percentage and sustainability.

17 Jun | 2016 Cambridge Judge Women’s Leadership Initiative Conference | Cambridge

The 2016 theme ‘Growing Together’ examined the dynamics of the work environment and asks what it takes for leaders to excel. The focus of the conference was on collaboration and growth, encouraging inclusion of gender diversity in various areas.

2015

19 Jun | Cambridge Judge Women’s Leadership Initiative Inaugural Conference | Cambridge

The inaugural conference Cambridge Judge Business School Women: Achievements, Opportunities, Challenges, that took place in June 2015 at Cambridge Judge Business School, was an opportunity to engage participants (both men and women) through an open and collaborative discussion of tangible actions through which to promote a shared vision of women’s leadership in business, and of how Business School women’s leadership initiative could support existing gender and equality programmes and projects within and outside Cambridge Judge Business School.

Other events including WLC student Interest Group run events

Other events are organised across CJBS, either by the Women’s Leadership special interest group (SIG) or by our programmes and centres and showcase the School’s involvement in fostering gender-balanced and diversity in the workforce. Many of these events are invite-only or target specific attendees, so may not always be open to all. Please find a list of any upcoming and past events. 


Upcoming events for Cambridge Judge students and faculty

The representation of women in leadership roles

Date: 12 November
Time: 16:00-17:30
Audience: Cambridge Judge students

Starting with presentations by Dr Chu, on research on the effect of quotas on female representation in top executive roles and Dr Roulet, on research on unconscious biases and how they affect women in organisations, the event will continue with smaller group discussion and Q&A.

This is an open space to explore any other topics related to the barriers women face in accessing leadership roles.

Dr Jenny Chu is Academic Director of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre, Deputy Director at the Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability, and a University Senior Lecturer in Accounting.

Dr Thomas Roulet is the Deputy Director of the MBA Programme a Fellow in Sociology and Director of Studies in Management at Girton College and a University Senior Lecturer in Organisation Theory.

The event is for Cambridge Judge students of all genders.


Female faculty chats

Audience: Cambridge Judge faculty

Professor Jennifer Howard-Grenville is hosting a series of regular female faculty chats with the aim of building a network, creating a community of practice, and promoting open dialogue.

Past events

Fireside Chat with Dr Louise Beaumont, Cambridge
7 Nov 2017

The Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre SIG is pleased to welcome Dr Louise Beaumont to the Judge Business School to discuss her professional experience in finance and leadership roles.

The event will be a fireside event which will enable audience members to discuss a variety of topics with Dr Beaumont and the wider group.

Women in Asset Management, London
23 Feb 2017

An asset management event hosted by Cambridge Master of Finance (MFin) programme. The panel discussion will look at women in asset management and is targeted at University of Cambridge alumni working in senior asset management roles in the City as well as current CJBS students. 

Microsoft Hackathon challenge, Cambridge
16 Jan 2016

A workshop, presentation and networking dinner organised in conjunction with Microsoft and Newnham College for female students from STEMM disciplines and Cambridge Judge Business School students interested in a career in Technology.

Women’s Leadership Initiative Debate, Cambridge
2 Dec 2016

Debate, organised by 2016 MBA student Anvi Shah, on the following topic: “Women’s Leadership Initiatives Disenfranchise Men.” 

McKinsey Centred Leadership event, Cambridge
15 Jan 2016

Smaranda Gosa-Mensin from McKinsey conducted a workshop for MBA and MFin students on the centred leadership style 

Coffee chat with Amazon, Cambridge
13 Nov 2016

Event with Sarah Rhodes and MJ Wheble of Amazon. Sarah is an ex-F18 fighter pilot who is now leading Amazon, Wales operations. MJ is the international recruiter for Amazon and was accompanying Sarah.

Workshop – How to make an impact: get your voice heard, Cambridge
11 Nov 2015

In this workshop, speaker Esther Stanhope showed attendees how to make an impact at work and get their voice heard no matter what role they were in.

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