The Women’s Network: Lehigh inspires women to redefine ambition

Lehigh’s Women’s Network invites strong, intelligent women to come together and redefine ambition.

The Women’s Network is a nationwide organization dedicated to networking and creating a community for undergraduate and recently graduated women. A group of Lehigh students established a chapter in June 2020, and in the past two years, the club has expanded to include 400 members.

Lehigh Women’s Network vice president Izzy Pecoraro, ‘23, has been a member since the club’s inception. At the start of the pandemic, Jamie Vinick, founder and president of The Women’s Network, reached out to Pecoraro and informed her that she was looking to bring The Women’s Network to Lehigh. 

“At the beginning, we had to meet with the Student Senate about once a week where they gave us tips for the club,” Pecoraro said. “We had to show them what the network was and explain why it would be really effective at Lehigh.”

Pecoraro said there was a six-week trial period and the club was approved after one semester.

Pecoraro works alongside other members of the executive board: including Liv Byers, ‘23, vice president of finance and Alison Yim, ‘24, vice president of events. 

Byers said she came to Lehigh with the intention of joining The Women’s Network because her sister was part of the Syracuse chapter, the first chapter in the country. She said the organization enriched her sister’s college experience. 

“The Women’s Network is to help ambitious women get together to talk about their ambitions – if women band together, it is much stronger than a woman going alone,” Byers said. “My experience so far has been great. I have met so many people that I wouldn’t have otherwise, and my LinkedIn has been better than ever.”

Byers said she became heavily involved in the chapter as soon as she joined.

During her first semester, she was a campus ambassador. She then decided to apply for vice president of finance because of her experience working in finances for clubs she was a part of in high school.

Yim said she joined The Women’s Network during her first semester at Lehigh and has loved it ever since. 

“The Women’s Network is a strong, tight-knit community of women who empower, celebrate and inspire each other, whether that be through workshops, speaker events or networking events,” Yim said. 

Just like Byers, Yim started as a campus ambassador and later decided to apply for vice president of events because of her high school club experiences. She has held the position for about a year. 

Both Yim and Pecoraro agreed that the LinkedIn workshop was helpful for their future and professional lives. 

Yim has an upcoming event with the head of marketing at Netflix which is planned in collaboration with the Emory chapter. Yim said it is her favorite event she’s planned so far and it encompasses the overarching goal of all of their events: to expose members to high achieving women in various industries.

Due to the size of Lehigh, the chapter is much smaller than at other universities. However, Byers said she appreciates that.

“I think that it is a closer community and it is more exciting that way because there is more room to grow since not everyone knows about it,” Byers said.

The size of Lehigh’s chapter has also allowed them to build personal connections with Vinick.

Lehigh’s chapter members have also been able to develop personal connections with women in different schools. Pecoraro said the club has allowed her to get close with students at NYU and Harvard, who she wouldn’t have known otherwise.