Elliot Steeves-
The annual Gustavus Women in Leadership Banquet will take place on Thursday, April 18th, at 6pm. The event will be held at the prestigious Swedish Institute in St Paul.
It was only two years ago that the banquet made its way to this famous location in the heart of the Twin Cities. The genesis, of all things, was the COVID pandemic.
“Out of COVID, the members of GWIL wanted to take the event out of Alumni Hall and into a location in the Twin Cities,” GWIL Co-Chair Katherine Tunheim said.
Currently, around 60 attendees are registered for the event, with Tunheim estimating that the number could increase to around 70.
For this event, GWIL invites a number of different guests, ranging amongst current members, EBoard executives, alumni, Gustavus faculty, donors, and members of the GWIL Hall of Fame. The event is a special opportunity for GWIL members to get to know both their career mentors, as well as each other.
The itinerary of the event is quite extensive. GWIL Co-President Morgan Kelly ‘25 happily provided a detailed description of the entire night that follows President Rebecca Bergman’s opening address.
“First, there is a networking hour,” Kelly said. “Those who are of age can have a drink and mingle, while donors who don’t get to see each other very often do so. People actually get to meet with leaders in their fields.”
Kelly’s line of work is in Human Resources. Her career mentor is Andrea Fanemmel, the head of talent acquisition at a royal bank in Canada. She stressed the kinds of connections that are possible, using this as an example.
“After we sit down and have dinner, we discuss GWIL and current thoughts on the program,” Kelly said. “Our funding comes through Gustavus, and we primarily have to talk to donors in order to keep that going.”
GWIL, at this event, will encourage donors to either make a first time donation, or keep donating through the program. Once that has occurred, they will give that request to the national advisory board, in charge of whether or not to approve the funding for Gustavus’ branch.
After discussing the mission and values of GWIL, and, of course, plugging some merch (in addition to photos detailing GWIL’s bonding and book club on Beyond the Label by former Chanel CEO Maureen Chiquet), the organization will induct new Hall of Fame members, as well as present stoles to the graduating members of GWIL. And, of course, GWIL will introduce its newest executive board members.
The executive board application process is an exciting one, as Tunheim attested to.
“You fill out an application, and explain why you want to be a board member,” Tunheim said.
Tunheim also remarked that, at time of the interview, she and the co-presidents were calling the new E-board members that night.
“We recognize the past at the banquet, and then we send it off with the new board members appointed this year,” Tunheim said. “Then, there are three planning meetings at my house in Orono. They’ll come to my place, and we have salads. It’s a really nice way for the board to get to know one another.”
Kelly emphasized that this is an event that everyone should attend if possible, and not just members of GWIL.
“This is a great way for women to see what GWIL can do for them,” Kelly said. “I could not tell you about one national or current board member who hasn’t used GWIL in a job interview. The skills we develop are helpful for everyone. We even had a man get an internship on our career quest last year.”
The process to set up the GWIL banquet is a massive endeavor-led, most importantly, by the students in charge of the group.
“The preparation is student-led,” confirmed GWIL Chair Katherine Tunheim. “Both Kelly and the other co-president, Mckenzie Alders ‘24, and our intern, Corrina Burns ‘26, have been helping with the process. Alumni then donate to buy the food for the sit down dinner, and we buy the cords and stoles.”
“We work to book the venue months in advance,” Kelly said. “We get meals set, we do community events, and we even have people flying in to us for this event. The committee in charge handles everything, and makes it run really smoothly.”
This year, Tunheim will also recognize five alumni who are being inducted into the GWIL Hall of Fame.
“These women have donated time, energy, and money for well over ten years,” Tunheim eagerly added.
Tunheim gets a lot of enjoyment from seeing current leaders on the Gustavus campus get recognized by alumni young and old.
“When generations of women come together, that is when the magic happens,” Tunheim said. “Current students get recognized in front of older individuals who are so successful. It’s Gusties helping Gusties.”
One thing was clear. The passion from both Kelly and Tunheim about the organization, and what the banquet meant, was readily apparent and present.
“If you want to be in a room with like-minded, empowering, intelligent women, who want to help one another, this is the event for you. I would have never known women like this without GWIL. These are brilliant women in organizations that students want to be in.”
“Everyone leaves the banquet feeling so proud to be a member of the Gustavus community,” Tunheim said. “It’s not just nineteen-hundred students on campus, or six hundred people on staff. Gustavus is a much bigger community off campus, across the country, and around the world, and this makes them very proud.”