A Leader in Helping Women Become Leaders

January 21, 2025

 

Barbara Bylenga, M.A.’81, founder of SHE-CAN, believes in women helping women. And that extends globally.

SHE-CAN, a nonprofit Bylenga founded in 2011, helps build female leadership in post-conflict countries. By pairing American mentors with women from Cambodia, Rwanda, Liberia and Guatemala, the organization helps them attain U.S. college educations and fosters their careers as leaders and changemakers in their home countries.

Early on, Bylenga had her sights set on a career in advertising. After receiving a B.S. from Florida State University, MSU came highly recommended as a valuable next step in her education. She knew the College of Communication Arts and Sciences would be an asset in getting a job in the industry. Over the next 14 years, Bylenga landed at multiple advertising agencies including Leo Burnett, Chiat/Day and Foote, Cone & Belding.

“I had a pretty long career in advertising from 1981 until 1994,” Bylenga says. “In ’94 I started a market research consultancy.” Heading up her own shop, she conducted trend research for brands such as Levi’s and Nike. Bylenga credits her time in the ad world for giving her a deep understanding of what motivates people—and how best to support them.

The idea for SHE-CAN was sparked on a volunteer trip to Rwanda when Bylenga received a request to help a young woman apply for scholarships. The woman received a full ride from Bucknell University. It was a transformative experience for both of them, and Bylenga realized she could lend a hand to so many other women.

When SHE-CAN started, the early results were full rides for women to Haverford College, Whitman College, Bennington College and Lehigh University. Today, SHE-CAN has helped more than 100 students receive more than $30 million in scholarships. “Now that we have quite a number of graduates, our mission is to ensure that they become a force multiplier or start a reverberation effect,” Bylenga says.

Five mentors are assigned to each student. Their assistance can run the gamut from acclimating students to their new surroundings to helping them acquire internships. For a student from another country, it’s reassuring to have this team in their corner. First-year students come together annually for a SHE-CAN conference, and every other year, every student in the program attends.

SHE-CAN has produced an impressive list of alums. Patricie Uwase earned her master’s degree from the University of California, Berkley and then returned to Rwanda to serve as Minister of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, reporting directly to the country’s president.

Pahlkun Ouc was one of the program’s first Cambodian scholars. “She is a rising superstar manager at an organization called Energy Lab Cambodia that is focused on transforming Cambodians’ energy to sustainable sources,” Bylenga says. “She plans and meets with government officials and heads of companies to talk to them about renewable energy.”

Bylenga believes the organization has many more mountains to climb, but, having scaled both Kilimanjaro and Fiji herself, she knows a thing or two about that. However, she is quick to downplay those summits, calling them an excuse to spend time with friends.

But in the end, it’s the heights that her program’s participants reach which truly motivates Bylenga.

“It really is amazing—the domino effect of each of these potential leaders is endless,” she says. “I’m excited about what’s happening, but I’m also really excited about our potential.”

 

Contributing Writer(s): Eric Butterman