Meet the trailblazer behind Northwestern’s largest student-run club

Not long ago, most colleges were only for males. As a member of one of the first cohorts of women to attend Northwestern University — and one of the first women to study engineering there — Dorothy Howe was a “trailblazer.” Today, a century later, Maddie Parrott is following in her great-grandmother’s footsteps by continuing her legacy at Northwestern.

Maddie Parrott is a senior at Northwestern studying economics and political science. Parrott has made her mark at Northwestern serving as president of the Institute for Student Business Education (ISBE), the largest student-run business organization on campus.

ISBE is significantly larger than other student clubs: It boasts over 300 members and eight different product subgroups. From finance to entrepreneurship to journalism, the club brings together driven students to work on real-world projects in various industries.

Taking on a leadership position as the vice president of operations her sophomore year, Parrott started to see her purpose in the club and build her role as a leader in the group. She wanted to make the multidimensional club have a more collaborative membership experience — “a stronger emphasis on culture, building in more time for both personal and professional development through activities and group bonding.”

Parrott realized ISBE brings together a unique community and network of student leaders.

“People in ISBE take on leadership roles everywhere. They provide good critical feedback, which may be tough to hear in the moment, but is good for changing processes and thinking,” Parrott said, adding that with students from a variety of backgrounds and studies, ISBE is a place for a group of “dynamic and diverse” individuals to explore different ideas and projects.

Parrott became a leader-of-leaders when she was elected president of ISBE her junior year, and the ambitious student did not take a laissez-faire approach to the job. Parrott knew the role gave her an opportunity to reshape and grow the culture and identity of the student club.

Parrott started her term with a vision of a new structure for ISBE. She merged two subgroups of ISBE, Arch Capital and Technology, to “make a more effective entrepreneurship group.” In addition, she converted another subgroup, Corporate Relations, to an internal development committee.

“I saw a problem and could change it,” Parrott said. “I learned to speak up and work to find the solution.”

But the task of restructuring a 300+ member club was not easy. Parrott said implementing new tools across the huge organization was difficult, even for something simple like getting everyone to use Slack, the group messaging app, to communicate.

But throughout the process, Parrott said she “grew as a leader and club member” by realizing the importance of teamwork. Her vice presidents, Courtney Schulz and Neha Gupta have been Parrott’s biggest assets in her presidency.

When Parrott was unsure if she was making the right decisions, especially when they had unclear results, the leader found support in her club members. They encouraged her work shaping the club in its “transition year,” reassuring Parrott she would “see the benefits next year.”

As she prepares to step down as President of ISBE, Parrott has some advice for her successors: Surround yourself with people who challenge and inspire you.

“Especially in top leadership positions for large organizations, you learn how much you rely on other people,” Parrott said. “I need the people around me to challenge me.”

Parrott applied her knack for problem-solving this past summer working for Ulta Beauty. She embraced the non-traditional consulting route within a larger corporation, working as a strategy analyst intern. As she has throughout her presidency of ISBE, Parrot set an example for those looking up to her across the organization. After completing her degree at Northwestern in June, Parrott will return to Ulta fulltime as a strategy manager.

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