After working as a Manager at Accenture, Jaanhvi Vaidya (Anderson, ‘21) went to UCLA Anderson to pivot to a career in product management and digital health. During her time at Anderson, Vaidya immersed herself in leadership opportunities, including serving as the current President of the Women’s Business Connection. In this interview, Vaidya shared her journey to Anderson, her role as the President of the WBC, and some important initiatives the WBC is focused on this year
MBASchooled: Tell us about yourself, and your role as Leader of the Women’s Business Connection?
Growing up a first-generation American and young, brown girl who loved STEM, I often felt I didn’t belong. However, I was fortunate to have role models and female mentors who encouraged and helped me persist, so very early on I became passionate about empowering underrepresented groups and creating a sense of belonging, and the Women’s Business Connection is an organization dedicated to doing just that.
The Women’s Business Connection (WBC) is a professional club but also inherently an identity club so our overall mission is to foster an inclusive community that elevates all Anderwomxn and equips our diverse members with the resources to form meaningful relationships, grow professionally, and thrive. We strive to develop and challenge influential and inclusive business leaders throughout their MBA journey and beyond, and we achieve this mission by offering programming that spans our 3 pillars: tight-knit community, intersectionality and inclusion, and professional empowerment. Every year, we organize dozens of events that directly align with one or more of these pillars to serve and connect 350 members and male allies.
Some of our signature events and initiatives include allyship in action workshops, Women in Industry networking events, and professional development workshops on topics like imposter syndrome and financial wellness, as well as our annual Velocity Women’s Leadership Summit, which brings together leaders and allies to celebrate the power and impact of women and explore ideas for a more equitable future in business and society. One final part of the WBC is championing future generations of female business leaders, so we support the administration in striving to achieve gender equity at Anderson.
MBASchooled: What was your final semester/quarter of your first year like as a result of COVID-19? What was the adjustment like, and what did you learn from the experience?
COVID-19 completely changed the way MBA students experience business school. Zoom classes aside, there was a complete 180 from meeting up in the courtyard for quick meetings or just to catch up to comparing schedules to find 30 minutes to stare at your computer screen and try to connect with your classmates.
Everything from group projects to leadership became more difficult, and there were definitely times that it felt like our business school experience had been ripped away from us. However, there was also this awesome opportunity for our class to commiserate and bond over finding new, creative ways to connect – from playing jackbox.tv games over FaceTime to a Zoom doggie talent show. Anderson students will often talk about our ‘AnderFam’ and I really saw that family spirit come out during quarantine.
One thing I learned was that it is crucial to plan ahead and have backup plans given all the uncertainty in COVID times. Although we were waiting to see whether we’d be able to have any kind of hybrid experience for the majority of the summer, I decided to encourage the WBC board members to plan for virtual events – just in case. Now that our Fall quarter is 100% virtual, I think we definitely benefited from having that direction and focus early on.
MBASchooled: As you look toward this year, what are some of the new ways you’re relying on to build relationships and community amongst your peers? How about with the first year students?
Through my role in the WBC, I knew people were really feeling Zoom fatigue, so I’ve been doing research on platforms, tools, and ways to keep people engaged virtually. We’re living in a wonderful time of technological advancements so I think it is important to expand past Zoom, since, frankly, people are feeling that’s a bit overdone now. There are resources out there for everything from playing Pictionary virtually to virtual reality spaces that allow for more engagement within the environment, and I definitely plan to leverage them.
I’ve also been scheduling a lot more 1:1 and ‘office hours’ or virtual coffee chats to stay connected with my fellow second years and meet and start to create relationships with the first years.
MBASchooled: This has been a challenging time for everyone, but what are some positive elements/aspects of the changes that you’ve had to make?
I’ve seen two advantages to virtual life (at least related to business school). The first is that we can record things, so if people can’t make an event, either because they’re located in a different time zone or they have a conflict like a recruiting event, they don’t have to miss out on another workshop/panel/speaker that was of interest.
I remember countless times last year when there were 3 events at the same time that I would’ve loved to go to but could not physically be in 3 places at once! Another benefit is that we have a much greater reach – whether that’s in being able to expand our search for speakers for events or connecting with prospective students who might not have been able to make it out to Los Angeles under normal circumstances.
MBASchooled: What are some events or experiences that are going to happen this fall at Anderson that you are excited about?
All club leaders have been hard at work coming up with creative ideas and engaging events, so I’m excited to see what all we have to offer. Our Wine Club on campus has been organizing virtual ‘Meet the Winemaker’ events which have been really fun. We’ve also been able to secure really cool speakers, like the Head of Product Inclusion from Google for our annual Embracing Diversity Week in which I’m personally really interested. Within the WBC, I’m really excited about the slate of new professional development workshops we’re organizing throughout the year, starting with a Negotiations workshop this fall and continuing with workshops on topics like Designing Your Life and Financial Wellness, among others. Regardless of whether these events happen in person or virtually, they will be beneficial for personal and professional growth. We’re also offering wellness-focused activities like virtual group workouts and meditations which is particularly exciting, because I think it’s easy (in business school, as well as during a pandemic!) to push aside our mental and physical health, so this will offer a dedicated time to ‘be’ with other people and do something just for ourselves.
MBASchooled: You are President of the WBC, and involved in a number of other leadership positions. As a Club Leader, how are you thinking about and approaching building community amongst your organization?
This year especially, there is a dire need for a place that allows us to create meaningful connections, and since last spring, the WBC board has been dedicated to planning a full slate of events to help all of our members have the best and most fulfilling experience possible given the circumstances. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m definitely thinking about the variety of platforms and resources out there to make virtual events more engaging, as that will allow our members to have more meaningful experiences and build community.
One specific thing I did as President was to repurpose our VP of Social role into a ‘VP of Community’ to think creatively about fun activities that will engage members and foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity in the WBC community. Some new initiatives we’ve started include:
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- Taco Tuesday: (which we repurposed to Wine Wednesday) to offer women across Anderson a space to come together, unwind, and connect
- Highs & Lows: a forum in which members can come together and share recent wins as well as any failures or challenges they’re facing. We want to offer support in any way possible, as well as lead by example and provide a safe place to be vulnerable, which we believe will enhance openness and facilitate meaningful relationships
- WBCircles: members are placed into groups of 6-8 women, mixing students from all programs including full time, FEMBA, EMBA, and MSBA to provide an immediate support system and opportunities to build deep connections. Each Circle gets a quarterly budget to pay for things like food or online events that may have registration fees
MBASchooled: What are some exciting initiatives the WBC has on tap for this year?
We’re building out a robust slate of events (100+ for the year) that will cater to our three pillars, many of which are brand new. In addition to new topics for professional development workshops, WBCircles and community-building events, and wellness activities, we’re also hoping to lay the foundation for an allyship program that will transcend this year. We’re organizing no judgement fireside chats to increase understanding about gender equity issues and implicit biases; allyship, mentorship, and sponsorship workshops to bolster our ability to uplift all women; and educational programming based on popular business books and articles.
One of the difficult things about COVID (for our club) is that we’ve seen a drastic decline in the amount and number of sponsorships we typically receive to be able to host and pay for all of these events. Although we’re not physically on campus, we still have to pay for many things, from technology platforms to speaker gifts to workshop materials, so we’ve been thinking of creative ways to supplement those funds. To that end, we’ve created our first ever ‘Mind the Gap’ fundraiser, which we hope will be successful in two ways: bringing awareness to the gender pay gap(s), as well as providing the WBC with a bit of a safety net during this year when it’s so important to continue to hold the professional and community-building events we’ve been planning.
We’re holding our Mind the Gap fundraiser for one day only, on October 22nd. October 22nd is 81% of the year, and is representative of the day of the year the average male employee could theoretically stop working to receive the same pay as their female colleagues. It’s really important to note that this is the best case scenario: there are additional pay gaps based on race and professional experience.
For example, Latinas make 55 cents for every dollar a man makes – this means male employees could stop working on July 18th and receive the same pay – and women with MBAs are paid 75 cents for every dollar their male counterparts get paid, which is around September 30th.
This Thursday, October 22nd, we are asking friends of the WBC to participate in and spread the word about WBC’s inaugural “Mind the Gap” fundraiser. We are asking for donations in increments of the average pay gap (19¢, $1.90, $19, $190) or other pay gap of their choosing (see our website for more) via Venmo (@WBCAnderson) or Zelle (wbcboardanderson@gmail.com)