Leading Ladies: UT Austin’s Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute Celebrates 5 Years
Learn about this program that helps equip college students with resources to pursue their dreams
When Priscilla Olivarez walked onto the University of Texas at Austin’s intimidating campus as a freshman in 2021, she felt lost.
After moving out of her parents’ house in Caldwell, Olivarez was searching for a new homebase. Olivarez knew she wanted to work in the fashion industry, but wasn’t sure exactly what to do with her Textiles and Apparel major. Her advisor pulled up the website for the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute, and Olivarez was immediately drawn to the women-led community.
Kendra Scott, the founder of the billion-dollar jewelry company headquartered in Austin, partnered with UT in 2019 and launched Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (KS WELI) with a mission to empower the next generation of female entrepreneurs.
KS WELI offers three courses, a student-run leadership board, and mentorship from a number of alumni entrepreneurs, leaders and professionals. The institute also funds a program in which students and alumni can receive grants for successful business pitches.
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KS WELI is located in UT’s College of Fine Arts, so students from all majors can find a pathway to entrepreneurship, whether they have a business background or not. KS WELI falls under The Kendra Scott Foundation, which Scott integrated into her jewelry company to support women and youth in health and wellness, education and business. Scott herself committed a combination of personal and company investments to create a $13.25 million endowment for the institute.
“Philanthropy has always been built into the ethos of the brand,” says Sheena Wilde, senior vice president of corporate philanthropy, The Kendra Scott Foundation. “When Kendra started the brand 23 years ago, she actually wanted it to be a nonprofit that essentially sells beautiful jewelry. A lot of people told her that she was crazy, but she felt that she could make something that made other people feel beautiful and connected to a brand with a greater purpose.”
“I made plenty of mistakes when I first started my business, and it was tough at times being the only woman in many of the boardrooms I walked into,” writes Scott in an email to TRIBEZA. “Having women mentors and resources to help guide me would have made a big difference in making some of those decisions. I don’t regret anything because it shaped me and brought our business to where it is today, but I want to make sure that aspiring female entrepreneurs have the resources and tools they need to pursue their dreams with confidence.”
Since its founding, KS WELI has awarded $120,000 in seed grants to participants in its founder program, which has helped 156 entrepreneurs launch and/or accelerate their new businesses. The institute has equipped nearly 6,500 students with entrepreneurial tools through its programs and events and has had approximately 650 students take sponsored courses. KS WELI hosts panels of female founders, including Jennifer Hyman of Rent The Runway, Susan Sarich of SusieCakes, and most recently, Kelli Anne Sewell of Makeup by Kelli Anne, who is also a UT alumna. Scott hopes to eventually grow KS WELI’s impact beyond the UT community and expand to other universities in the future.
“At the heart of it, I want to build a community that’s supportive an encouraging, one where students can thrive and pursue their dreams with confidence,” she writes.
In the Women in Entrepreneurship course, students work together to develop their own business from scratch while learning what it is like to have co-founders. Scott co-teaches the class with UT faculty member Jan Ryan at the Kendra Scott headquarters to address the obstacles women face in business today and provide strategies to overcome them.
“As a creative and designer myself, having access to resources and tools on how to start a business would have been a game changer when I first started out,” adds Scott. Now a senior, Olivarez is KS WELI’s student board president and has taken three of KS WELI’s sponsored courses, which will allow her to graduate with a minor in Entrepreneurship.
“I have had many opportunities to lead in different aspects over the years, and I’m learning all the professional development skills I need to take with me after college,” Olivarez says.
Olivarez hopes to follow in the footsteps of other KS WELI graduate students and work for Scott at her jewelry company, where Olivarez can innovate within.
Many KS WELI students have gone on to work for Kendra Scott, including Jessica Sutherland. The now 25-year-old UT graduate was looking for a way to scale her creativity when she discovered KS WELI. Sutherland became the student board’s chairwoman, and she was the first intern hired at the institute, where she met her current boss. After graduating, Sutherland was hired as Kendra Scott’s culture experience manager, a dream job for her.
“One of my favorite sayings is, ‘If you can see her, you can be her,’ and KS WELI embodies that with its courses, resources and panels that will change your whole perspective and put you on the right career path as a creative,” says Sutherland. “The faculty champions you every step of the way and encourages you to go after your passion, no matter the major.”
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