Tippie’s InvestHer was honored as the University of Iowa’s Outstanding Student Organization of the Year in 2024, taking home the prize over 500 other groups.

“It was a surprise for sure, but I feel proud,” said former InvestHer executive board president Sraavi Vaddadi, who graduates this June and will start her career with BP in Denver.

Organizations nominated for the award “have displayed significant effort and have made a meaningful contribution to University of Iowa students,” according to the award criteria.

InvestHer does that several ways, hosting events, inviting alumni with exciting and high-powered jobs in to speak with the group, hosting panels on leadership, and assisting members to turn experiences into opportunities like internships.

While it is an inclusive organization and men are welcome to join, InvestHer was founded in 2018 because of the relative lack of women in the finance space. Finance has consistently ranked as the major with the lowest percentage of women at Tippie, hovering right around 30%, according to one of the organization founders, Maeve McGonigal.

Kayla Olson, a junior studying finance and entrepreneurship and current co-president of InvestHer’s executive board, said it was the first student organization she joined as a freshman.

“I was looking for a way to get involved and meet people and it really stood out to me,” she said. “It’s very impactful. I have seen it create internship opportunities and job leads for people.” 

Her co-president, Natalie Goetzman, said despite the fact more women than ever are moving into the finance space, she is grateful for the camaraderie of fellow females in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.

“I’m in several other finance-specific organizations and most of them are 90% men,” she said. “InvestHer really promotes women. We want women to know there is always a seat for them at the table.”

This article appeared in the 2025 issue of Exchange magazine.