Scaling a network for women and nonbinary professionals

Going from 10% to 30% share of women, and more than 25% on all leadership levels in my unit in 4 years. I get a lot of questions these days how we achieved this. Curious? Read on ⬇ I hear from many engineering leaders (men) how difficult it is for them to have better representation in their organizations. They struggle to attract and retain talent from all genders. It's a reinforcing cycle. Men start in the company who attract more men who then refer more men. How did we do it? Firstly, we did NOT have any quotas or forced ourselves. Secondly, we did not do any "employer branding". Also, we went through hyper growth in that time. 1⃣ The right setting If you are not ready for change do not even try. Learn and unlearn to provide the right setting for all genders. There are a ton of amazing content creators and advocates out there to learn from. Educate your folks, develop allyship. Routines, perspectives, conversation will change and that is a good thing. Applicants are smart and I know of a many women who check systemically (me included). If you don't pass their test it's a no. Soo many ways to mess up, trust me, I've seen them all. 2⃣ Network & internal hiring Post and pray? Doesn't work. Build network via communities, sponsorship, bootcamps, academia, staff referrals. Work hard in this. That senior or lead engineer who is a wiz at what she does? Only referral gets you a contact to her. Trust me on this. The best staff is also already in the company. Being a recognized brand certainly helps with that. Offering junior positions helps, but think about ALL seniority levels. 3⃣ Role models That reinforcing cycle? Works also in the other direction once you go over a certain threshold. "Franziska, as you are there, I can see myself there, too". 4⃣ (Slightly) changing hiring & nipping limiting beliefs We added 2 paragraphs on women & non-binary people and folks with disability to our job ads. We cut all the unnecessary requirements and look at qualifications rather than years. We review all profiles at least once. "In hyper growth, you cannot hire diversely" -> We scratched illogical statements like that from our vocabulary. Why limit ourselves and self-sabotage from the start??? You need to do ALL the hiring you can do in hyper growth. 5⃣ Normalcy We largely use "they" and avoid "you guys". Language is reality. We find it usual to have meetings with more women than men (though that is still rare). We associate leadership with all genders in our vocab. Do we have some way to go? Absolutely! For now, I look back at 4 years of hard work and strategic investment and I know I've built a legacy. The same effect also applies to other diversity dimensions, by the way, not just gender. I look around and all my communities are well-represented. I know that Jörg Sendele had posted about the question of improving representation. Maybe an inspiration?

70% of communities fail. Mine don't. Here's the framework I use to build them. Most communities fail because they start backwards. They build the platform first, then hope people show up. Here's the 5-step framework I've used to build thriving communities for both women leaders (nearly 2,000 members) and industry organizations (70+ companies): 1) Start with careful participant selection → Don't chase scale. Chase alignment. → One unengaged member can kill the energy. 💎Quality beats quantity every single time. 2) Define your unique connection point → "Professional women" isn't enough. → "Women navigating male-dominated cultures" resonates. 🎯The more specific your shared challenge, the stronger the bond. 3) Build structure that removes social anxiety → Assign teams before people arrive. → Create agendas for every interaction. → Remove the guesswork from "how do I fit in?" 🏠Introverts shouldn't have to act like extroverts to belong. 4) Set clear intention (and enforce it) → No sales pitches allowed. → No toxic positivity or negativity. → Vulnerability is rewarded, not punished. 🛡️Rules create safety. Safety creates connection. 5) Create rituals that build excitement → Annual moments that people protect on their calendars. → Exclusive access that feels special, not business-like. → Traditions that members look forward to all year. 🏆When people guard your event dates before you announce them, you've won. The result? Members who respond to each other's emails. Who refer business to each other. Who genuinely celebrate each other's wins. That's not networking. That's belonging. 👉 Follow Stephanie Eidelman (Meisel) for more ideas about how to increase your visibility and advance your career. 🎫 Stop networking. Start belonging. Join us at WCF 2025, where you'll build the connections that respond to your emails and champion your success. (https://hubs.la/Q03dYbHY0)

After founding and scaling a women's organization to 15,000+ members, I know one truth: 89% of women's networks fail to deliver real value. This one won't. As the founder and former CEO of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals (NAWSP), I built a community that transformed careers, not just conversations. Three critical elements I learned about building powerful women's networks: • Success depends on curation, not collection. The right 20 connections outperform 2,000 random ones every time. • Women leaders need spaces designed for their actual lives, not idealized versions. Your calendar is already full. • Networks that drive results focus on action and visibility, not just talk and theory. This is why I immediately recognized the power of the Wednesday Women Membership that just launched today. It's not another crowded Slack group with performative networking. It's built for exec-level women who lead with conviction, value authentic connection, and want every woman to rise. No Instagram-perfect corporate masks. No status symbol price tags. No time-wasting activities. Instead: ✅ Hand-curated and AI-powered network connections that actually matter ✅ Value that fits into your actual life ✅ A community rooted in action, generosity, authenticity, and visibility I've built and led organizations that changed the trajectory of women's careers for over a decade. The Wednesday Women approach aligns with everything I know works. Power doesn't come from larger networks. It comes from strategic ones. What would change if you stopped collecting connections and started cultivating the right ones? P.S. For women executives tired of networks that take more than they give: This is your community. https://lnkd.in/epHyq42c #WednesdayWomen #ExecutiveWomen

🤝The secret to scaling a community? It's not what you think. 🤝 I share the key strategies that got me featured in "A Guide for Scaling Communities that Deliver Measurable Impact", a book written by Mark Birch, who served as a Global Startup Advocate at Amazon Web Services (AWS)👇 (Take notes) When I moved from Paris to NYC in 2022, I dove into community building. The results? 4,000 women in less than a year, 6,000 in 18 months. But here's the twist: Massive events aren't always the answer. I noticed a shift. People craved more intimate, curated experiences. That's when I pivoted to La Creme de la STEM™ - female founders support system, a private network for early-stage women entrepreneurs. Here's what I learned: 1️⃣ Quality over quantity Invite-only memberships foster genuine, powerful connections. 2️⃣ Shared values matter Create a space where members align on core principles. 3️⃣ Embrace vulnerability It's the key to deeper connections. 4️⃣ Adapt to changing needs Be ready to pivot when you see shifts in community preferences. 5️⃣Provide a focused platform Showcase women as business leaders, emphasizing expertise over gender. Remember: Finding your tribe is hard. Your community should be a place where members can be true to themselves and benefit from strong support. That's the real secret to scaling - not just growing numbers, but growing impact. Build a community that truly serves its members. I am thankful to be featured alongside 54 community builders from around the globe, covering every continent, for sharing ONE THING they wished they knew about community building. Read the book to know more!