SWS Members Meet Mr. Buffett

This March, three members of the Boston College Chapter of Smart Woman Securities (SWS) visited Nebraska to meet notable American investor and industrialist Warren Buffett.

SWS, an organization started in 2005 by two 2007 Harvard University graduates, was created to cater to women seeking to learn about personal finance investing at a foundational and practical level. SWS currently operates at 14 colleges and universities, including Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Georgetown, among other notable institutions.

The six students who now comprise the members of the BC chapter's executive board, along with three class representatives, founded the BC chapter in January 2010, after a nine-month process.

The board is comprised of Laura Travers, co-chief executive officer and CSOM '12, Sayoko Kumamaru, co-chief executive officer and CSOM '12, Juliet Zawedde, chief development officer and A&S '12, Lauren Wallace, chief research officer and CSOM '13, Sarah Olson, chief marketing officer and CSOM '13, and Amy Hinz, chief operating officer and A&S '13, with its representatives being Alyssa Musmanno, CSOM '13, and Dara Fang, CSOM '13, for the sophomore class and Taylor Johnson, CSOM '14, for the freshman class.

Olson, one of the founding members, said that the club is important to have at BC because of its ability to cater to all female students regardless of their previous knowledge level.

"On any campus, you'll find someone who doesn't know much about their finances, but there aren't many places where they feel comfortable asking," she said. "SWS is set up for a person who has never heard of what NASDAQ is. It talks about the basics and creates a core foundation and that's why it's so beneficial."

According to Olson, the club also balances the focus on both education and networking.

"[SWS] is about being able to educate women about their finances, to empower them, as well as help with networking," Olson said. "SWS focuses equally on both the education and networking aspects."

This year, all three founding sophomore members, Hinz, Olson, and Wallace, attended the trip to Nebraska, an event organized by the national SWS and attended by members of other chapters of the organization. Last year, both co-chief executive officers attended the same event in Nebraska.

In addition to this event, the BC chapter has visited the New York Stock Exchange where members were brought on a tour and then enjoyed a lunch with industry professionals, as well as girls from both the Fordham and Columbia SWS chapters, among other BC-based events.

In order to become involved in the organization, a student must become an associate, which requires attending a nine-seminar series taught by industry professionals.

However, one of the goals of the club is to broaden its audience to hold events to include more non-associates, as well as attract students from schools other than CSOM, Olson said.

"We definitely want to market SWS to A&S, LSOE, and CSON, not just CSOM," she said. "One of our biggest goals this year is to get out into the rest of the school."

This month, the BC chapter's board members will meet to discuss their goals for the upcoming year. In a broad sense, Olson said that they hope to make it a "stronger club, and make it more defined."