Celebrating Five Years of WIN
Five years ago, Women in Innovation (WIN) hosted its first event. At the time, a small group of us had identified our own lived pain point—far too women leaders were represented in the field of innovation—and a hypothesis that more women would be interested in tackling this problem. My former colleagues and soon-to-be WIN Founders, Alfia Ilicheva and Maria Potoroczyn, sent out an email to a group of women they knew, asking: Would you join us for an evening to harness the power of the women across our industry to crack this problem?
I’m not sure they were aware of exactly what this would spark—but I do remember joining over 100 women from a single email that were equally passionate about solving inequalities in innovation.
In classic innovator fashion, Alfia and Maria were not content to just bask in the success of that first event. It was an experiment that revealed two key insights: that the need to advance women in innovation ran deeper than our immediate network, and that there was a hunger for a community of women to support and elevate each other. It did not take long for this idea to blossom into an international nonprofit organization with a sophisticated volunteer operating model and thousands of members.
What’s less discussed in the story of WIN is the tireless work behind the scenes to support hundreds of hours of training and programming and the development of a thriving global support network. As we’ve grown, so has the scope and depth of our commitment to closing the gender gap in innovation. This mission is as much about supporting the women in our community as it is about ensuring that society gets the best of diverse thinking to create the products, businesses, and workplaces that make a brighter future for everyone. This is the promise of having more diverse perspectives at the whiteboard.
I take daily inspiration from the team at WIN—and the grit of our founders who continue to seek better. In five years, we’ve learned the power our community holds. So we ask you to join us.
This March, through our Raise to Rise campaign we’ll share an action you can take to help close the gender gap in innovation every week. As we head into the next five years, we’ll be calling on everyone in innovation—venture capitalists, employers, practitioners, students, soon-to-be entrepreneurs—to create a habit of action to forge a more equitable future for us all.
- Lindsay Liu, WIN Board Director
Women, including WIN Board Director, Lindsay Liu, at WIN’s first event on International Women’s Day, March 2016.
Rise With Us This March With Five Weeks of Actions
Throughout the month of March, donate to our Raise to Rise campaign and/or join us on Instagram, Linked In, and on the WIN Hub as we take collective action to close the gender gap in innovation.
Week 1: Celebrate Collaborators who Inspire
Celebrate a woman innovator who has inspired or collaborated with you
Week 2: Take Action
Take one of five actions in less than five minutes to support a woman in innovation
Week 3: Sponsorship
Learn about the importance of Sponsorship: download our 2021 Pioneers Report, sign up for WIN One-on-Ones, and RSVP for and learn more about our events on the topic.
Week 4: Upskill
Join us for a skill-building event or help a woman in innovation access WIN’s programs
Week 5: Use Your Influence
Use your influence as a leader - at any level in your career - to build equity in innovation and join our Sponsorship event
Thanks to our Sponsors
WIN thanks Raise to Rise sponsors, co:collective and frog. Co:collective and frog have been WIN champions since day one, and we are so grateful for these innovative companies’ continued support.
Raise With Us
Over time, through strategic exploration, implementing thought-leadership, and learning from our global community members, WIN has identified solutions that will help close the gender gap. All contributions to WIN’s Raise to Rise campaign will help us develop and deliver these solutions. Thank you for your support!
We asked some women who have been part of WIN from its earliest days about their experiences. Here’s what they had to say.
“WIN has always been a safe space for like-minded women to gather, connect, support, learn from, validate, and elevate each other. I'm proud to see that 5 years later, this spirit has been spread across and embraced by our global community.”
-Katie Burwick, Graduate Student at the Rhode Island School of Design, Freelance Designer and Strategist
“I think WIN has been a key driver of the responsibility I feel to build up, support and encourage the women I’ve worked with. There are a lot of challenges unique to being a woman that we can often overlook – and it’s critical to keep them in mind, especially when developing young talent.”
-Christine Miranda, Global Director of Innovation, Vita Coco
“What stood out at the very first WIN event was this diverse group of women - from all different organizations, so many different backgrounds - coming together to share their personal stories. Despite the size of the group, which wasn't small, it felt intimate - we had a clear shared curiosity and shared purpose for being there. For me, coming from a background where I worked first on a floor of mostly men, and then at a firm of all men with similar backgrounds, it was inspiring to be in a room full of women from all over, coming together to inspire each other and advance.”