Council of One Hundred (C100)
In 1993, 100 alumnae—top executives from public, private, corporate, and nonprofit organizations—formed the Council of One Hundred (C100) to connect successful Northwestern women with undergraduate seniors and recent female graduates to help launch their careers after graduation. Today, the Council has expanded to support Northwestern women and non-binary people throughout their careers and sponsors networking and mentoring opportunities and events on career, workplace, and life strategies.
Representing a wide range of graduation years, cities, and professional backgrounds, we follow the original vision to identify top talent from the ranks of female and non-binary Northwestern graduates. In addition to being highly successful in their careers, our members share a commitment to give back to Northwestern and help other women and non-binary people. Council members gather in-person in the spring and virtually in the fall for meetings that include professional development and networking events with alumni, faculty, and staff. It is also a chance to connect with student recipients of the annual Trailblazer Award.
All Northwestern female and non-binary alumni and students are welcome to attend any public C100 events, such as summer parties, Mentor Circles, and mentoring events, as space permits.
Membership in the Council of One Hundred is by invitation only, New members are selected each spring from a pool of outstanding female and non-binary alumni nominated during the year by current C100 members. Alumni wishing to be considered for membership may also nominate themselves.
Criteria for membership includes:
- Unusually fast career pathway
- High position relative to the size and stature of the organization/company/entity
- Difficult/unusual professional accomplishment
- Innovation or thought leadership
- Award-winning or peer recognition in area of expertise
- Leadership in supporting the advancement of women and non-binary people
- Commitment to mentoring others and supporting Northwestern University
For more information, please contact c100@alum.northwestern.edu.
Networking Events
The Council of One Hundred hosts networking events in various cities throughout the year, including Chicago, Evanston, New York, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Female and non-binary graduates from all schools and class years are welcome to attend, as space permits.
Mentoring Events
Council of One Hundred members host Mentor Circles virtually and in select cities throughout the year. These Circles provide opportunities for small groups of alumni to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities women and non-binary people face in their careers, ranging from professional development to work-life balance. Council members share tactics and insights on how to build and continually improve their leadership skills. Female and non-binary alumni from all professions, industries, and job levels are encouraged to participate.
C100 Representative Titles
Our membership includes incredible leaders from many professions and industries. A few of our member’s titles are represented below:
- President and CEO
- Executive lifestyle editor
- Editorial Director
- Chief marketing officer and vice chancellor communications and marketing
- Physician
- News Anchor
- Director of change management
- Television and Film Actor
- James Beard Award-winning author
- Executive coach
- Director of workplace policy and senior counsel
- Columnist/reporter
- TV Writer and Executive Producer
- Chief of staff
- Author
- Film and Television Director
- U.S. Navy Vice Admiral
- Relationship expert
Support
The Council of One Hundred directs its fundraising efforts to the Trailblazer Award, which provides funding to summer interns through Northwestern’s Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP). These grants support Northwestern students who participate in unpaid summer internship experiences to further their career exploration in the US and abroad. The Council sponsors between six and 20 female and non-binary students each year, and past recipients have worked for non-profit organizations, taught school children in various countries, and supported underserved communities. Make your gift to SIGP through the Council of One Hundred here.
“Trailblazer Award” recipients Yajaira Gallegos, ’19 and Rachel Rasmussen, ’19 share their SIGP experiences.