Funded by a grant from the President’s Council of Cornell Women, W.E. Cornell was founded last year to empower and train women entrepreneurs in Cornell University’s STEM programs. The program aims to level the playing field by providing members with networking, mentoring and training opportunities to help them compete for venture capital.
Andrea Ippolito, executive director of Cornell’s Engineering Management Program, states that “at a stage when a mere 2 percent of startups led solely by women receive venture capital funding, we need to tackle both the systematic and everyday obstacles to reduce inertia for female founders.”
The program was successful in its first year as many participants were accepted into other entrepreneurship initiatives to advance their business ideas. This year, enrollment in the program has doubled and the university has opened the program to faculty and staff members.
“The response to the program has been fantastic,” according to Ippolito. “We opened it up to university personnel because we were so inspired by their passion and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. I think we’ll continue to evolve to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs as we grow.”
Ippolito holds a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Cornell University. She holds a second master’s degree in engineering and management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.