Breaking Glass

By Evelyn Pazan and the OFP Inaugural Class

On a typical UConn Friday, most college students spend their time lounging in the Union and unwinding after a long week of classes and exams. On Friday in the School of Business, one room is buzzing with energy and anticipation. Excited chatter fills the room as 21 women settle in and pull out their laptops. When the class begins, they take turns sharing their biggest accomplishment. The room is filled with proud cheering and clapping as one student shares that she landed her dream internship at Moody’s. After lifting everyone up, Steve Wilson, the instructor, lets everyone know that it is time to go to work.

What happens in this classroom is still a mystery to many students and faculty, but the women involved know that they are part of something special. For the first time, UConn is making a focused effort to increase the participation of women in investment management. For UConn, it is a $500,000 investment, no small figure. Steve and the women in the female-focused section understand the magnitude of this effort and they are confident that they will use the opportunity to create something special. Hence the name, the Opportunity Fund Project.

The UConn Opportunity Fund presents a big challenge for these hyper-motivated students. The entire first semester of the course was a large time commitment but came with no credit. The students realize that the course sequence offered more than credit though. Sabrina Behboudi noted that she took the sequence “not for the college credit that it would give, but for the knowledge and experience that [she] would gain to help in [her] job post-grad”. Ellenese Espaillat acknowledged her own busy schedule but said that she “recognized the uniqueness of this opportunity, and dedicated myself to doing it, no matter what”. The willingness of these students to give up their time, despite already packed schedules, is impressive. It shows the initiative that these women have to be pioneers in their pursuit of knowledge about investing at UConn and beyond.

Perhaps the most determined women in the UConn Opportunity Fund are the freshmen who chose to join. Isabella DeLeo shared: “I truly believed that this experience will be more beneficial to me than anything else - club, class, sport, etc.- I do my freshman year”. These freshmen have little to no base knowledge about investing. They have not received the financial education that their upperclassmen counterparts have. The learning curve for them is steep. Madeline Castro confided: “I was warned of the work I would have to put into this course. But rather than backing away, I took a chance. I did not want to take an opportunity like this for granted”.

One key aspect that makes the UConn Opportunity Fund unique is the strong camaraderie that comes from working with an all-female team. Briana Dastoli remarked: “Being surrounded by a group of strong, like-minded women who are all dedicated to a common goal is a truly empowering experience”. While it provides women a comfortable space to talk about investment, companies, and markets, it also creates a safe space for them to speak about multiple issues. In the UConn Opportunity Fund, women can “come together with confidence and comfort, free from the usual doubts or fears that might arise in other settings”.

As this determined group of women begin their second semester in the program, they are experiencing new challenges. This section, titled “Applied Investment Analysis and Management”, puts together everything that this team of dedicated students learned in their “Building Blocks” class. It is meant to simulate the work world so students must dress in business attire, as part of the program’s goal to make the students job-ready on day one.

In small sector focused groups, the students are expected to filter out, identify, and do due diligence on a company of their choice. After determining that they have a very attractive candidate, they will pitch the stock to the class and then to an accomplished group of professional money managers to get the idea approved. Finally, the group will invest in that company and manage that investment. This gives these women real life experience that will pave their way to thrive on Wall Street.

For the women involved in the UConn Opportunity Fund, the program is worth more than a few college credits or just another resume builder. It represents the first step toward breaking the glass ceiling in the financial sector. The impact of the UConn Opportunity Fund is best summed up by senior student Sabrina Behboudi:

“This experience to me is about being hopeful. Hopeful for a changing and equal business world, and hopeful for this opportunity to open new doors for me in connection to my future endeavors.”

To learn more about the OFP, email Steve Wilson at:

steven.m.wilson@uconn.edu.