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Key people at Babson College Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Babson College Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership is a Wellesley, Massachusetts-based academic institution that provides entrepreneurial education, business acceleration programs, and research initiatives for female founders. The organization operates the Women Innovating Now Lab and the Black Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership program, which specifically targets established entrepreneurs generating a minimum of $150,000 in annual revenue. Backed by a $10 million endowment, the center manages the largest undergraduate scholarship program on the college campus and has supported nearly 200 female founders through its venture accelerators. The center operates with philanthropic support and strategic leadership from notable figures and corporate entities, including the apparel brand Frank & Eileen, its founder Audrey McLoghlin, and Executive Director Shakenna Williams. The center was originally founded in 2000 by the former Babson College President Leo Higdon Jr. and founding director Nan Langowitz.
The Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) at Babson College is an academic center dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs through education, mentorship, research, and resources, not a for-profit company.[3][4][5] It promotes gender equality as a growth strategy via programs like the Black Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (BWEL) program, which targets Black women-led businesses with at least $150k revenue for scaling through curriculum on procurement, financing, and networking.[1] CWEL also offers global research (e.g., Diana Project™), collaborations like the Fundamentals of Capital series with Women Business Collaborative and Wells Fargo, and support for Babson students and alumni to bridge the gender gap in business.[2][3][7]
Babson College, ranked #1 for entrepreneurship education by U.S. News & World Report for decades, positions CWEL as its premier hub for business acceleration and inclusive leadership, fostering social and economic impact.[2][4]
Established as the first business school center focused on women entrepreneurial leaders, CWEL evolved from Babson's pioneering entrepreneurship ecosystem, including early initiatives like the Diana Project™ for researching women’s entrepreneurship and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.[2][6][7] Named after Frank & Eileen™ founder Audrey McLoghlin, it gained prominence through endowments and programs addressing disparities, such as low revenue in Black women-owned businesses (averaging $24k in 2019 despite high growth rates).[1][4]
Key milestones include launching BWEL as an "action tank" for Black women entrepreneurs and allies, blending online curriculum with in-person events, and partnerships like the 2023 Fundamentals of Capital series.[1][3] Led by figures like Executive Director Dr. Shakenna Williams, CWEL builds on Babson's legacy from co-founders like Professors Jeff Timmons and William D. Bygrave.[2]
CWEL rides the wave of inclusive entrepreneurship, addressing gender and racial gaps in funding and scaling—e.g., Black women-owned firms' rapid growth but low revenue/job creation—by equipping leaders with tools amid rising demand for diverse founders in tech and beyond.[1] Timing aligns with post-2020 awareness of inequities, amplified by collaborations like Fundamentals of Capital during economic recovery favoring scalable women-led ventures.[3]
Market forces include institutional pushes for diversity (e.g., procurement opportunities) and Babson's global influence via research like Diana Project™, which benchmarks women’s venture growth and influences policy/education worldwide.[2][7] CWEL shapes the ecosystem by accelerating women into high-revenue brackets ($5M+), fostering networks that seed tech startups, and promoting entrepreneurship as a "life skill" for innovation.[4]
CWEL will likely expand hybrid programs like BWEL and capital-focused series, targeting AI-driven scaling tools and global procurement amid 2025+ economic shifts toward inclusive growth.[1][3] Trends like rising women-led unicorns and DEI mandates will amplify its reach, potentially via more endowments and tech partnerships.
As Babson's entrepreneurship powerhouse, CWEL's influence will evolve from education to ecosystem orchestration, propelling more women to $20M+ revenues and redefining leadership in tech's diverse future—directly countering the gender gaps it was built to bridge.[3][4]
Key people at Babson College Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership.
