Julie White Schuster, MBA ’21
Venture Program Manager, World Business Chicago
Julie White Schuster leads venture programs for World Business Chicago (WBC), a public-private partnership between the city of Chicago, philanthropies, and the business community aimed at driving inclusive economic growth. In her role as venture program manager, she runs the Chicago Venture Summit, the city’s flagship VC conference and one of the largest events in the Midwest region, and Startup Chicago, WBC’s startup growth and venture attraction program connecting investors with 200+ venture-ready entrepreneurs. In 2019, Schuster co-founded the United State of Women startup accelerator to empower women-owned businesses on the South and West sides of Chicago. She also volunteers with GET Cities as an active member of their tech equity working group.
Prior to her role at WBC, she worked in the non-profit arts world as tourism marketing manager for the Art Institute of Chicago and in foreign trade as the project manager and trade promotion specialist at the Taiwan Trade Center. She also lived and worked in Asia from 2010 to 2014, becoming fluent in Mandarin. Schuster graduated from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in 2021 with concentrations in entrepreneurship, strategic management, general management, and economics. While at Booth, she participated in the New Venture Challenge where her team was a finalist, in addition to the Private Equity Case Competition, the Venture Capital Investment Competition and the Sterling Partners Investment Thesis Challenge. Schuster also worked as a student intern with various family offices and search funds during her time at Booth. She received her undergraduate degree from Colorado College where she studied art history, asian studies, and international affairs.