Two hundred high school students from Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties took part in the Smith School’s 11th Annual Future Women in Business Conference. The theme of the Nov. 15, 2024 event was “Standing on Business,” and host Melanie Ashton, Smith’s associate director of undergraduate programs, said that’s about considering the possibilities that come with pursuing a higher education in business. “It’s thinking about your goals, standing ten toes down, and making a plan for where you want to be and who you want to be in the future.”
Over a decade ago, the conference was launched to increase gender diversity at Smith, which at the time, had a student body of 60% men and 40% women. Now the female-male ratio is nearly 50/50.
Future Women in Business Conference participants are placed into collaborative teams for a case competition. This year’s case focused on Strapt, the luxury phone accessory startup founded by alumna Emily Ciardiello ’24. The company offers accessories that reduce the risk of losing your phone by dropping it, leaving it behind, or pickpocketing.
Accounting major Anna Virozub ’26 was among the undergraduates who mentored the groups. She remembers attending the conference when she was in high school. “It means everything to be able to give back.” She says providing guidance and advice to students as they move through the competition requires patience, wisdom and knowing when to let go.
As an undergrad, Goldman Sachs investment banking analyst and Smith alumna Kayla Malone ’23 served as a mentor for this event. This year she gave the keynote address, telling the attendees, “The future of business is not about the numbers, it’s about the people, the impact and the change we can create.” Malone told them they have everything they need to start shaping the future right now and said, “The world is waiting for what you will bring to it.”
The high school students were asked to analyze Strapt’s strengths, challenges and opportunities to come up with creative, marketing and finance solutions as well as new product options. Each group presented their strategies and recommendations, finalists were chosen and a winning team was picked from among the finalists. Everyone went home with a goodie bag of merch that included Smith souvenirs and other swag. But most importantly they left having competed in their first case competition, where they learned skills that uncovered talent many of them didn’t know they had.
Ciardiello plans to use a lot of the students’ suggestions to improve her business. “As a solo entrepreneur it’s hard for me to filter out ideas I come up with, but having girls with a business mindset evaluate the business from a 3,000 point view is very helpful.”
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.