Women Support Groups: Online Communities Boosting Sisterhood
There is something exceptionally powerful about women supporting women. In a world that has sexism and misogyny around every corner, having a woman lead the way for another perpetuates a strong sense of community and fosters an environment of mutual growth and respect.
In an era dominated by the internet, online communities built to enhance the careers of women are plenty across the globe. These communities bring women in the workforce together to build a safe and collaborative place for each other to grow exponentially in their area of interest.
Presented here are some such online communities:
Catalyst for Women Entrepreneurs (CWE)
CWE is an online platform that caters to women entrepreneurs looking to orient their fledgling businesses in the right direction. It’s a paid platform that connects women with like-minded entrepreneurs in their industry to guide them through everything from finance and setting up their trade networks, to helping them reach out to successful women entrepreneurs.
Their interactive discussions highlight the socio-economic factors and trends that stand in the way of women trying to carve their own niche. CWE provides a community that helps women grow, nurture their skills, and steer them in the right direction.
Kool Kanya
Kool Kanya, better known as KK, is a community built to connect and inspire women in the workforce. At Kool Kanya, one will find everything related to business, markets, competitive landscapes, and also personal anecdotes of and advice from successful women across the globe.
The community believes in nurturing an internet space where women connect with and motivate each other to build a sturdy future for themselves. Here, women can find people to genuinely guide them and help them manoeuvre through tough situations at work, to understand their daily hustle as working women in this country, and to help them transform their career.
Also read: COVID-19 Cost 17 Million Women Their Jobs. This 27-Yr-Old Is Helping Those Women Get Re-Hired
The BOSS Network
BOSS is an acronym for “Bringing Out Successful Sisters” which stands to promote and guide women that are starting off on their entrepreneurial journeys. A community of brilliant women, BOSS helps women change the way they network and think by bringing them resources from all over the globe. It cultivates a sense of belonging, inspires women to perform better by pointing them in the right direction, and helps them make informed choices about their finances.
Forte Connect
One of the biggest and most persistent problems in our work culture is the gigantic wage gap that exists between the two sexes. Women do the same job, log the same number of hours, and still get paid lesser than their male counterparts.
Forte Connect is a community of women professionals with shared experiences such as this and a common goal of a space to collaborate, learn, and grow. The community aims at providing useful insights regarding industry trends and access to learning resources using which women can upskill themselves and enter into promising industries.
Girls Who Code
Women in tech face more gender bias than in any other industry. The pay gap in computing is so large that it might take centuries to bridge it but every step counts.
Girls Who Code is an organisation that believes in creating a holistic environment for women coders who are stirring up the male-dominated tech industry, one code at a time. It was initiated to bridge the gap between potential and opportunity for women in India who are enthusiastic about coding. Through their in-person programming sessions like Summer Immersions Programs, Coding Club, and College Loops, they intend to prepare women for a future in the competitive and fast-growing tech industry.
(Edited by Varsha Roysam)
