Hello again, From WISE: Reintroducing Ourselves & Our Mission ✨
The journey to an innovative mindset and a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem starts here.
If you’ve missed us on Medium, fear not — we’re back (and better than ever)! It’s been a minute since our last post, so consider this your official reintroduction to WISE (Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship) at Northeastern University. We’ve grown, we’ve globalized, and we’ve got all-new programs we can’t wait to share with you!
Who We Are & Why We’re Here
For the uninitiated, WISE is an undergraduate student-led group dedicated to helping women and underrepresented genders develop an innovative mindset. Since our founding, we’ve been on a mission to make entrepreneurship fun, accessible, and empowering. Through interactive workshops, thought-incubators, venture accelerators, mentorship pairings, and a venture capital bootcamp, we aim to help budding entrepreneurs get the confidence and skills they need to launch their ideas (or even just take that first step into the entrepreneurial world).
WISE in Numbers 🤸
- 2,100+ members reached since our founding
- 275 mentorship pairings
- 72 WeBuild cohort members
- 55 WeLearn workshops
- 45 community events
- 21 WeLaunch cohort members
- 4 Summit conferences
- 1 keynote webinar event
- 2 Treks to San Francisco & Paris (with another in London soon!)
These numbers make us proud — and maybe a little exhausted — but mostly they remind us of the incredible community that continues to grow within WISE.
Our Programming (Still Thriving)
Before we get to the brand-new programs, here’s a snapshot of the core WISE experiences that have shaped our community:
💐 Community Events
Our Community Events are all about forging connections among women and underrepresented genders who share a curiosity for entrepreneurship. Whether it’s attending a panel on navigating college life or post-grad plans, joining a group exercise class at REV’D, volunteering for a local nonprofit, or field-tripping to a women/underrepresented-owned business, you’ll find plenty of ways to explore new interests while bonding with like-minded peers. And of course, we sprinkle in just-for-fun gatherings — like our beloved Galentine’s celebration coming up again this spring! All are welcome, and every event offers a safe, welcoming space to meet fresh faces, discover new passions, and connect with the WISE community.
🦎 WeLearn
An open series of interactive workshops and discussions led by professionals and students from a wide range of industries. Every session provides a safe space to network, broaden your interests, and explore how an innovative mindset can benefit any academic or career path.
🧵 WeBuild
Our community-based thought-incubator, composed of ~10 students chosen via application. The WeBuild curriculum pushes participants to sharpen their problem-solving skills and develop a venture or business idea — all while fostering that essential entrepreneurial mindset.
Heads-up: We’ve recently revamped the structure of WeBuild — stay tuned for more details on how it’s now more accessible and aligned with our new programs in the “New Programs on the Block” section!
🤝 WeSupport
Our two-tiered mentorship pipeline connecting students, alumnae, and professionals. Whether you’re seeking personal growth, career advice, or an accountability partner, WeSupport pairs you with mentors and peers who can help you become the founder — or professional — you aspire to be.
Summits Past & Future
One of the pillars of WISE is our annual Summit, a day filled with keynote speakers, workshops, and a lively celebration of entrepreneurship. Since our very first (“Stronger Together”) in 2019, we’ve hosted three more:
- Redefine Your Limits
- Created by Courage
- Embracing Authenticity
If you’ve been around for any of these, you know we love weaving storytelling and hands-on experiences into each Summit, ensuring you leave inspired and ready to take bold action. And guess what? We’ve just announced our 2025 Summit theme: Built to Last. Stay tuned for more details on how we plan to celebrate sustainability in our personal journeys and define success in our own terms in the year!
New Programs on the Block
In case you’ve only known us from our classic community or WeLearn events, we’d like to introduce the latest additions to our family:
🔮 WeInvest
Think of WeInvest as a crash course in venture capital — but specifically tailored for women and underrepresented genders who want to break into investing careers. WeInvest teaches how to:
- Source companies & conduct due diligence
- Make sound investment decisions
- Understand what good deals look like
If you’ve ever been curious about how VCs think, or if you’re itching to learn how to evaluate startups, WeInvest is your perfect launchpad.
🚀 WeLaunch
WeLaunch is our early-stage accelerator, built for those who have a spark of an idea and want to transform it into a market-ready product. Over a structured timeline, participants learn:
- Ideation & prototyping methods
- Testing & validating assumptions
- Launch strategies & mentorship
WeLaunch is like the big sister program to WeBuild — while WeBuild nurtures your entrepreneurial mindset, WeLaunch takes the next step by helping you build something tangible out of that mindset.
🧵 WeBuild: Same Name, Fresh Spin
Historically, WeBuild has been a closed cohort limited to a small group of accepted participants. Now, it’s evolving into a structured pathway for entrepreneurs to move from initial concepts to validated ideas:
- Starts with an Orientation: Participants get an overview of the process, tools, and community.
- Open Community Classes for 6 Weeks: Anyone can join these sessions to learn and workshop ideas.
- Mid-Semester Application to the Final 10 Cohort: About halfway through, participants apply for a spot in the top cohort to present at Showcase and access personalized mentorship.
- Pipeline into WeLaunch: Once you’ve validated your idea through WeBuild, you’ll be well-prepared to join WeLaunch and continue growing your venture.
In this way, WeBuild now serves as an inclusive, hands-on thought incubator for the earliest stage founders (pre-idea!!), effectively bridging the gap between having that first spark and building out a full-fledged startup in WeLaunch.
Going Global: Oakland & London Campuses
Yes, you read that right — we are now global! WISE programming has expanded to Northeastern’s campuses in Oakland and London. 🌍
That means our signature WeLearn workshops, WeSupport mentorship program, and even our community events are crossing time zones. Whether you’re in Boston, Oakland, or London, you can tap into WISE’s collaborative ecosystem (and get ready to be a part of the best global network!).
Spring Break Treks: Around the World
Our love for exploration extends to our exclusive E-Board Treks over spring break — we hopped over to San Francisco in 2023, spent time in Paris in 2024, and we’re gearing up to head to London in 2025! Each trip is an opportunity for our leadership team to meet global entrepreneurs, explore new ecosystems, and bring fresh ideas back to Northeastern.
We’re proving that a fun spring break and personal growth aren’t mutually exclusive. ✈️
A Special Update: Equator Coffees & Helen Russell
As if all of this wasn’t exciting enough, we’ve got a special update to share! Many of you know that Helen Russell, co-founder of Equator Coffees, is a true champion of WISE. Not only did we get the chance to visit her homebase in San Francisco during our inaugural Trek, but Helen also hosted a WeLearn workshop last semester to share her entrepreneurial wisdom with us all. She’s been an incredible supporter of our community, and we’re so grateful to have her as a part of our WISE family.
Now, here’s where you come in — when you purchase a bag of their Medium Roast Northeastern Legacy Blend, you’re not just getting a delicious cup of coffee — you’re also supporting the incredible work that WISE does. In partnership with Northeastern University (Helen’s alma mater!), $1 from each bag goes directly to WISE to support our programs. So grab a bag (or two, or three!) and sip your coffee knowing you’re helping to fuel the next generation of change-makers. It’s coffee for a cause — and it’s delicious! 💖☕
Why We’re Saying Hello Again
So, why the big reintroduction now? Simple: we’ve evolved. The WISE you knew back in 2021 has undergone a growth spurt, adding new programs like WeInvest and WeLaunch, forging global connections, and (most importantly) cultivating an ever-stronger community of underrepresented founders.
We still hold close to the same warm, welcoming spirit — and we’re still fiercely committed to empowering women and underrepresented genders to find their footing in entrepreneurship. We just have more tools, more experiences, and more stories to tell than ever before.
What’s Next
- Summit 2025: Built to Last: Get ready for inspiring talks, networking, and cutting-edge workshops on building ideas that stand the test of time.
- Open Community Programs: Join our WeLearn workshops, community events, and now-open WeBuild classes to discover new interests and develop real entrepreneurial skills — no prior experience required.
- Growing Global Footprint: With Oakland, London, and more expansions on the horizon, we’re excited to keep pushing boundaries and connecting innovators worldwide.
And if you’ve been thinking about taking that first entrepreneurial leap, stick around — we’ll be opening application-based cohorts next semester. Whether you’re seeking mentorship, curious about venture capital, or eager to build your own project, we can’t wait to help you get started.
💌 Stay in Touch
We’d love to hear from you, see you at our upcoming events, or chat about your next big idea! Here’s how you can keep up with all the things:
- Websites: northeasternwise.com, wisesummit.org
- Instagram handles: @northeasternwise, @wise.summit
- Click here to subscribe to our newsletter — you’ll get updates on our programs + insider recommendations around Boston straight from the WISE team!
P.S. We’ll be using Medium to post recaps of our WeLearn workshops — our first session on January 22 featured Anna Sise (COO of Viv) on research techniques for a market-driven business (look out for the write-up next week!).
P.S.S. Mark your calendars for some of our upcoming events:
- Community event #2 — a spring favorite, WISE’s beloved “Galentine’s” event 📌 Tuesday, February 18 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at 300 Mass Ave
- WeLearn workshop #3 — the topic and speaker will be revealed on Instagram! 📌 Wednesday, February 19 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Shillman 215
Whether you’re an expert or just exploring something new, we’d love to see you there!
✨ Thanks for tuning in, and here’s to creating, dreaming, and building — together. We can’t wait to see where the journey takes us next.
