Girls Who Invest (GWI) is a non-profit organization that inspires and empowers young women to pursue investment careers in the asset management industry — which is a field challenged by a lack of diversity. GWI’s goal is to inspire more women to pursue investment management careers through educational training programs, access to paid internships, and engagement with GWI’s community. And recently, Girls Who Invest announced it is receiving additional support from Vista Equity Partners, which is a leading investment firm focused on software and technology-enabled businesses that has been GWI’s leading sponsor since it launched.
Vista Equity Partners has provided significant funding to support GWI’s flagship ten-week Summer Intensive Program and its online programs over the past three years. And now Vista Equity is committing $1.5 million in funding and providing internships for GWI scholars over the next five years.
GWI has been growing at a rapid pace. For example, the size of the flagship Summer Intensive Program went from 30 college women in 2016 to 100 last year. And earlier this month, GWI sent out acceptance letters to 150 students for the 2019 cohort. And GWI is continuing to see tremendous demand from students at colleges across the country along with asset management firms all over the world.
“Vista has been a leading voice on gender diversity in the asset management industry, and their growing investment in GWI shows that they continue to back strong talk with strong action,” said GWI founder and chair Seema Hingorani. “Vista was our first founding partner and we are grateful for their continued and expanded partnership and support. Their substantial commitment will help us deliver on our mission to improve the gender imbalance on investment teams across the asset management industry which will ultimately be beneficial to investors everywhere.”
Later this summer, the 150 talented young women are going to complete a four-week educational training program at the University of Pennsylvania or the University of Notre Dame. After that, they will begin six-week paid internships at leading firms in the industry including Vista Equity Partners. Specifically, Vista is going to hire six GWI scholars as interns this summer. The four weeks of educational training will include coursework in core finance and investment concepts taught by top business professors, time for building relationships with industry leaders through speaker series programs, Bloomberg Terminal training, one-on-one career coaching, and presentation skills training.
The program has been very successful so far. Of the nearly 200 college women who completed GWI’s Summer Intensive Program, 80% have stayed in the investment business.
“GWI and Vista share a commitment to promoting pathways for women – and all people – to rise by merit alone. Unfortunately, too often women are overlooked and underrepresented in the asset management industry,” added Vista Equity Partners operating principal and GWI Board of Directors member Betty Hung. “Girls Who Invest is changing the face of the industry by equipping young women with the access and skills to thrive in the competitive world of asset management.”
