WINTER PARK, Fla. – Dr. Mary Conway Dato-On can’t hide her enthusiasm as she talks to students about the ropes of business and entrepreneurship.
Her lessons don’t stop in the classroom, they go beyond.
“Women invest in the future. So, the more we can invest in women today, the brighter our future will be tomorrow, not just for women but for our whole community,” she said.
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Dr. Conway Dato-On became the first female faculty president at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.
She also serves as the faculty director for The Global Links Initiative, a cross-cultural training program that helps female students think about entrepreneurship as a realistic opportunity and gives them empowerment and self-confidence to tackle the business world.
“I just found a lot of confidence through the other women in my program, and everyone supports each other and just having role models at Crummer,” MBA student Evelyn Flaugh said.
Being a female entrepreneur is challenging, though. According to The Business Journals, in 2020 only 18% of new startups in Florida had a female founder.
“It’s important to understand, it’s not because we lack ideas and it’s not because women lack initiative, so we have to sum up as looking at the women as individuals and look at our society and look at our institutions,” Conway Dato-On said.
Conway Dato-On explained confidence is key when it comes to achieving goals in the business industry and if you can break down barriers, you can succeed.
“It’s all about creating that community that women support women and men are supporting women and understand the barriers of that, so believe in yourself because we believe in you, and we can make that advancement,” she said.
To learn more about Dr. Conway Dato-On, click here.