New club WE@T celebrates, empowers female-identifying entrepreneurs

Tufts is no stranger to entrepreneurial activity, with the Gordon Institute having an established presence on campus through competitions, academic programs and a venture lab. Yet, there had not been an organization dedicated to promoting female entrepreneurship, until Women Entrepreneurs at Tufts (WE@T) was founded earlier this semester by sophomores Chloe Amouyal and Lea Pensoy to fill this gap.

“We both felt like there wasn’t a specific space or group for women that was specifically geared towards entrepreneurship or business.” Pensoy said.

Amouyal and Pensoy are currently pursuing the entrepreneurial leadership studies (ELS) minor. With WE@T (pronounced we-at) the founders wanted to create a space that would provide something closer to real-world experiences beyond what they can learn in an ELS classroom.

“It’s about bringing entrepreneurship outside of the classroom and building a community around it,” Amouyal said.

Amouyal and Pensoy both shared that they were inspired by the experience of women in entrepreneurial settings to create this club as a space and network for female entrepreneurs.

"It's a response to all the different dynamics we experience throughout our lives," Amoyual said.

Pensoy highlighted the sense of disempowerment that women may feel in male-dominated fields as one of the reasons why she thinks WE@T is a necessary space on this campus.

“I think a lot of people experience that across a lot of different organizations, so it wasn’t necessarily because of one space in particular, it’s something that you notice over time. The ELS program is fairly evenly split but I have still ended up in classes where it is mostly men and fewer women. I think the more that happens the more you think about it and the more it impacts your day-to-day life," Pensoy said.

WE@T is currently not officially recognized by the Tufts Community Union Judiciary but is sponsored by the ELS program, according to Amouyal. The club hopes to be recognized next semester, while continuing to maintain a relationship with the ELS program. With this in mind, Amouyal and Pensoy both envision greater goals for the new club.

“We’re planning on launching our own mini commercial venture where we sell merchandise to give people a hand at selling,” Pensoy said.

Amouyal elaborated on how WE@T intends to hone its members' business acumen through more hands-on activities outside of the classroom.

“We’re also looking to do a case study at some point this semester,” she said. “We’d like to bring in someone who studies business to do a discussion and analysis of a given company.”

In addition to giving its members opportunities to gain practical experience, WE@T plans to bring in notable female entrepreneurs through a speaker series and lunch-and-learn events.

With the tagline "Entrepreneurship: It's not just for the boys,"WE@T was founded to create a community for women entrepreneurs, but Amouyal and Pensoy believe it can be a club for more than just the entrepreneurially-minded.

“We didn’t want it to be just [for students in the] ELS minor because a lot of people are interested in business and the community, but don’t necessarily have the time in their schedules to do the minor,” Amouyal said. "We’re looking for anyone who is interested, who cares about women, who cares about business and is motivated."

For Pensoy, WE@T is something that she hopes will provide another way for women who are curious to learn more about business and entrepreneurship, in addition to other established opportunities on campus.

“Tufts doesn’t have a particularly robust business program so giving people another outlet for exploring that is really important. It’s not just for people doing ELS, we really want people from across the student body,” she said.

Although WE@T is just starting out, both Amouyal and Pensoy hope to expand to work with other groups on campus once the club is on its feet.

“We do have plans to work with groups in the future. We want to be an open, collaborative space and we hope to work with other groups, especially in similar fields,” Amouyal said.

Being supported by the ELS program provides WE@T with opportunities for collaboration with groups like the ELS-affiliated Tufts Entrepreneurs Society (TES), according to Amouyal.

TES vice president and co-directorNathaniel Niemiec shared that he is looking forward to TES collaborating with WE@T in the future.

“While we have seen increased participation from women entrepreneurs in the Venture Lab from last year, we think that clubs such as WE@T will encourage female founders to become increasingly involved with all the programs and resources the ELS [program] and Tufts has to offer,” Niemiec said.

Beyond that, Pensoy envisions the club as the hub for a new, sustainable network between Tufts alumna, current students and future students.

“I think there are some really amazing female graduates of Tufts, and this is kind of a nice way to bring them back, connect them with Tufts again, and make them a part of our network and community,” Pensoy said. “Hopefully when people join our club and when they graduate down the line, they also come back and be a part of this wider network.”