Laidlaw Foundation and IE Business School: Supporting women leaders

5 min read

We understand that building your future requires investment. We also believe in nurturing talent regardless of background or economic circumstances. That’s why IE Business School, through the IE Foundation, partners with organizations that align with our values, such as the Laidlaw Foundation, to make higher education accessible for all. 

Laidlaw Foundation works to “break cycles of poverty, reduce inequality and develop a new generation of ethical leaders.” And their Women in Business Laidlaw Scholars program enables extraordinary women to earn MBAs to drive gender parity in today’s workforce. 

With an inaugural intake of 13 scholars from 10 different nationalities, let’s see how this groundbreaking partnership is helping two outstanding students pursue their career goals. 

Two unique journeys toward a shared goal 

Genevieve Esguerra from our Executive MBA and Ripa Hovsepyan from our International MBA are two of these extraordinary women working to make a lasting impact. We recently sat down with these two game-changers to hear their journeys with IE Business School, through the IE Foundation, and Laidlaw Foundation.  

Genevieve is originally from Manila, Philippines and has spent the majority of her professional career at Thomson Reuters as an operational manager. She then moved to LSEG Data & Analytics to manage the EMEA team, offering support from London to Manila. She’s currently working for Security Bank Corporation as the unit head for the client support team, which includes managing corporate accounts for the bank.  

While at the bank, Genevieve started reviewing her bucket list, which included pursuing higher education abroad. She thought that here and now was the perfect time to enhance her professional profile to allow her to move up the career ladder or even build her own company—so she started researching universities that offer MBAs and came across IE Business School.  

As she began filling out the application, she realized it wasn’t quite within her budget and she almost decided not to submit it. 

Ripa, originally from Armenia, started her academic journey in the finance industry, shifted to education, and finally ended up working in NGOs. Her most recent role found her living in China for six years, which allowed her to build partnerships with multinational companies and local government officials.  

When Ripa felt she was ready for the next step in her life, she decided to head back to Europe to be closer to her family. The Laidlaw Scholarship was already on her radar, and a post on LinkedIn about Laidlaw Foundation’s collaboration with IE Foundation and IE Business School. 

A scholarship as a path for change

Thanks to their scholarship, Genevieve and Ripa were invited to attend the 2025 Laidlaw Women in Business Elevate Conference in London, where they got to meet not only the rest of scholars from their cohort at IE, but also other benefitiaries from the Laidlaw Women in Business Scholarship Programme from all around the world. Ripa explains that there was a moment when she stepped back and thought, “This is a very strong community of brilliant minds, leaders and women… I feel empowered being here, and I want to be part of something more. It’s important to be somewhere where I can make an impact.”

More than the feeling, the community shines through the research these women have done, the platforms they’ve created and more. “We get to see people we would want to emulate as women leaders, but we also have a platform where we can give back to the foundation that gave so much to us,” explains Genevieve.

The Laidlaw Scholarship has allowed these two women to change their professional paths. “The program has transformed me,” shares Ripa. “IE Business School provides a great platform for entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and beyond—but besides that, there is a lot of personal development along the way.”  

Genevieve adds that it’s evident that IE Business School wants to create leaders. “They are helping us become leaders who provide both skill and empathy. We are learning to create value, and be mindful of our own selves and simultaneously of the impact we can create. A highlight has been learning how to implement ethical leadership.” 

Balancing the personal and professional 

Starting something new in a new country can be overwhelming, especially when you want to do everything at once. It takes a bit of balance. Ripa explains that the balance won’t always be 50/50—sometimes, you’ll have to put more focus and effort into one task to be able to do something different later on. Genevieve notes that her calendar has been her best friend. She adds everything she prioritizes to the calendar so that she can focus on checking things off. “Give yourself some grace,” she says. “There will be times when you just don’t have enough time, and that’s okay.”

These women have clearly found ways to balance their studies with finding new ways to make an impact. They also received their Laidlaw Scholarships in part because of their strong desire to do something positive for both their community and in the workplace—a goal that they plan to work toward upon graduation. These women have done big things up until now and will continue to push to empower others and make a difference.

Genevieve is the co-founder and chairperson of the Women Inter-Industry Network (WIN), a small group of women in Manila supporting other women. On top of this, she’s spoken at WIFA events, made the top 20 of INvolve’s Heroes Women Role Model list, was elected as a chair of LSEG and more. 

As part of Ripa’s journey, she wrote a guidebook for women about self-love, personal growth, self-care and fulfillment. It came from her own journey of empowerment and is titled Me, Myself & I: 10 Principles for a Woman’s Path to Self-Love, Self-Growth and Fulfilment. She hopes it will be published sometime this year. 

We at IE Business School look forward to seeing what the future holds for Genevieve, Ripa and all of the Laidlaw Scholarship recipients.