Mount Holyoke among top women-led businesses in Massachusetts
The list, compiled by The Women’s Edge and The Boston Globe, celebrates the Commonwealth’s leading institutions that are led by women.
On Oct. 24, 2025, The Women’s Edge and The Boston Globe named Mount Holyoke College to the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts.
This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the list by The Women’s Edge, a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing women in leadership positions. Each year, in partnership with The Boston Globe, it conducts a comprehensive nomination process before compiling a list of outstanding businesses and nonprofits. In addition to revenue and operating budget, factors considered in the evaluation include workplace and management diversity, board makeup and innovative projects.
The College is recognized as President Danielle R. Holley leads Mount Holyoke into an inspiring new chapter of its 188-year legacy. Now in her third year as president, with input and feedback from a team of students, faculty and staff, President Holley completed and launched MHC Forward, a multi-year strategic plan that creates a framework for how Mount Holyoke will make day-to-day and long-range decisions.
During President Holley’s tenure, Mount Holyoke College announced the MH Commitment, which ensures that United States families with total family income up to $150,000 pay no tuition. The MH Commitment is one of the most generous eligibility thresholds in the nation. The College also launched a comprehensive campus plan encompassing the bold transition to geothermal energy and residence hall conversions. It aligns the planning and utilization of the College’s physical assets with its curriculum, majors, student residential life, student experiential life, alum engagement and staff and faculty experience.
A lauded expert on civil rights and equity, President Holley has been outspoken about the attacks on and sustained questioning of higher education through Executive Orders and other government actions. She has appeared in various outlets, including NBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The Boston Globe, WBUR and NEPM.
“Being named to this list of trailblazers is an honor. Mount Holyoke College stands for bold and boundless leadership,” said President Holley. “The leading gender-diverse women’s college, Mount Holyoke College was founded nearly 200 years ago to educate those who are marginalized on the basis of their gender. Generations of our students have pushed past limits, created change and shaped a brighter future for Massachusetts and beyond.”
Being named to this list comes a month after being ranked twenty-ninth among national liberal arts colleges — up from thirty-fourth last year — in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges ranking. The College also ranked thirty-fourth for Best Value, National Liberal Arts Colleges, and tied for twenty-first place for Undergraduate Teaching, National Liberal Arts Colleges, up from thirty-fifth last year.
The full list will be published in the Globe Magazine’s “Women & Power” issue on Oct. 26, 2025.
