Director of the DWLA Helen Dashney was a mentor and professor to Balasubramaniam starting in the early 2000’s. Dashney said the two formed a nice relationship that has continued for the past 20 years. When she learned that Balasubramaniam wanted to start this program in her name, she said she felt "humbled." 

"Well, as you can imagine, it would be a huge honor to have a former student recognize you in that way," Dashney said. "I felt a great sense of responsibility that I wanted to lead this effort in a way that would honor her and what she was wanting to accomplish."

Balasubramaniam and Dashney share the same goal: have more women in senior management roles in corporate America. Through the DWLA program, Dashney hopes her students will hone in on essential leadership qualities to better prepare them for jobs in the C-suite. 

"We feel that the way to help women get on that trajectory is to make sure that they get off to a very strong start early in their career," Dashney said. "And so having them have a skill set that's robust so that they can gain traction in their first couple of years should propel them into higher opportunities more quickly."

The inaugural cohort of the DWLA was announced in December, with official programming starting in January. There are 14 women currently in the program, called DWLA Scholars. Dashney said they’re not aiming to be a big organization, so that interactions between the director and students can still be very personalized. 

"Even though our actual membership may be on the smaller side, the impact that the group will have will be much broader than that," Dashney said. 

This idea references "the multiplier effect," as Balasubramaniam puts it, where one woman learns something that she can then share with her friends and colleagues. 

Marketing junior Kate Vanderspool said she’s looking forward to being a DWLA Scholar to be able to grow the network of Broad women alumni. 

"I'm excited to be a resource to girls in the future when I'm off in the workforce," Vanderpool said. "And when this program continues on, I’ll be somebody for them too."

Human resource management junior Kennedi Bryant said being a member of the DWLA program means being "someone who wants other people to succeed with them." She said this program differs from others in that it’s not lecture-based, but rather a conversation.

"It's really an open space for us to have important dialogue, listen, and learn from each other's experiences," Bryant said. 

Marketing junior and DWLA scholar Ella Laurens said being a part of this program has given her "a sense of appreciation for other women leaders." She added that learning from fellow students who have different leading styles has allowed her to try new things. 

"It helps to have all of these amazing women with different perspectives working alongside you because they're constantly encouraging you to become a better version of yourself," Laurens said. 

Dashney said the relationships she cultivates with the women in her program will be "very much a two-way street."

"I'm just very excited about having this opportunity to work with wonderful women and, you know, I will probably learn more from them than they learn from me."