How Women Lead

What How Women Lead does

How Women Lead is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 47-1938087) operating a national community of 25,000+ senior executive women across 40 countries, with headquarters in San Rafael, California and regional Executive Boards in Silicon Valley, Chicago, New York City, and Washington D.C. Founded by Julie Castro Abrams (firmographic year founded 2004; company history cites 2016 as the founding of the current national entity), the organization activates leadership, investment, and philanthropy through an interconnected platform: How Women Lead runs board-readiness and leadership programs including Corporate Board Journey, Visible Impact, #GetOnBoard Week, the Women Leaders for the World fellowship, and a Puerto Rico leadership retreat; How Women Invest is described as the only US venture fund investing exclusively in women-founded and women-run startups, operating Fund I, Fund II, and a Fund III in market, with 140+ LPs, 30 portfolio companies, 4 exits, and 35% of Fund I capital ($3.5M) returned to LPs; How Women Give is a strategic giving circle with tiered membership (standard $1,250/year, Executive Committee $262.50/quarter or $1,050/year) that has deployed nearly $500,000 in grants over five years to organizations serving women and girls.

The underlying technology stack is intentionally light: a Wix-hosted public website, Buzzsprout for podcast distribution (How Women Inspire), and standard email and virtual-event tooling — there is no disclosed proprietary platform, mobile app, or API. Revenue is generated through a mix of foundation grants (Wells Fargo $1.5M, Nasdaq Foundation), individual donations at $500-$10,000 levels, How Women Give membership subscriptions, retreat fees, and How Women Invest fund management fees. The go-to-market model is community-led and event-driven: members are acquired through word-of-mouth, the #GetOnBoard Week annual conference, regional events, retreats, the How Women Inspire podcast, and personal journey calls with the CEO. Customer segments span senior executive women seeking board placement, women investors seeking venture exposure, women of color targeted for financial literacy programs, and women philanthropists seeking collaborative grantmaking vehicles.

How Women Lead has positioned itself at the intersection of boardroom diversity, gender-lens venture capital, and strategic philanthropy, with claimed influence on California SB-826 and AB-979 board-parity legislation. Strategic priorities are reinforced through institutional grants (Wells Fargo 2022, Nasdaq Foundation 2024), a Nasdaq Closing Bell campaign, geographic chapter expansion, and the active fundraising of How Women Invest Fund III.

Name

How Women Lead

Legal name

How Women Lead

Website

https://howwomenlead.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

How Women Lead is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit running a national network of 25,000+ senior executive women, operating leadership programs (Corporate Board Journey, #GetOnBoard Week), a venture fund (How Women Invest), and a strategic giving circle (How Women Give).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Leadership Development and Women's Network

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Inclusive Leadership & Leading Diverse Teams (EDABAAAM), C-Suite & Senior Executive Coaching (EDABANAA), Gender Lens / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Funds (FSANAJAM), Corporate Reputation & Thought Leadership (MPAAAOAF)

Keywords

• Women leadership programs
• Corporate board readiness
• Venture capital funds
• Strategic giving circles
• Executive women network

Headquarters

HQ city

San Rafael

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual and quarterly membership fees for How Women Give giving circle program, with Executive Committee and standard giving circle tiers
2. Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting women's leadership, investment education, and philanthropy initiatives. EIN 47-1938087.
3. Grants: Foundation grants for specific initiatives such as the Nasdaq Foundation grant for financial literacy programs and Wells Fargo grants for women-owned small business support
4. How Women Invest Fund Management: Venture capital fund management fees from How Women Invest funds (Fund I, Fund II, and raising Fund III), investing exclusively in women-founded companies

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

How Women Lead is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates an integrated ecosystem of leadership, investment, and philanthropy programs for senior executive women. Its core offerings include the Corporate Board Journey, Visible Impact, and Inner Circle leadership programs; the How Women Invest venture capital funds investing exclusively in women-founded companies; the How Women Give strategic giving circle; the Women Leaders for the World global fellowship; and the annual #GetOnBoard Week conference. Members pay annual or quarterly fees to participate in giving circles and leadership programs, while the venture funds raise capital from limited partners.

Product overview

How Women Lead is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization comprising a network of 25,000+ senior executive women driving leadership, investment, and philanthropy. The organization operates a platform of interconnected programs including How Women Lead (core membership and board placement), How Women Invest (sister venture fund investing exclusively in women-founded companies), and How Women Give (strategic giving circle). Key programs include the Corporate Board Journey for board preparation, The New Table campaign mobilizing women investors, #GetOnBoard Week annual conference, How Women Inspire podcast, Women Leaders for the World global fellowship, and Puerto Rico leadership retreats. The ecosystem also includes How Women Invest Fund I and II, which have deployed capital across 24 women-led companies with 3 exits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 35% of Fund I capital ($3.5 million) returned to limited partners
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• How Women InvestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHow Women Invest (HWI) is the sister organization to How Women Lead, dedicated to shifting the venture capital landscape by supporting women-led companies. HWL and HWI jointly produce the Women, Wealth & the Capital Continuum annual report.
• Women Leaders for the World (WLW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal fellowship program for women leaders run by How Women Lead, with coaching, training, and network building components. 700+ Global Fellows and Advisors across 40 countries.
• VentureneerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner commissioned by How Women Invest and How Women Lead, along with CoreWoman, to produce a roadmap report on unlocking women's wealth through startup investing, funded by Wells Fargo.
• CoreWomanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner commissioned alongside Ventureneer to produce research on women's wealth and startup investing, funded by Wells Fargo.
• RevWork Inc.minorOthersHow Women Invest II, LP invested $250,000 in RevWork's $1M pre-seed round. RevWork is a Learning Retention SaaS company. Nicole White from Newfront joined the RevWork board as HWI's representative.
• Nasdaq Entrepreneurial CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through Wells Fargo's Connect to More initiative supporting women-owned businesses, connecting entrepreneurs with Nasdaq resources.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Ellevate Network: Professional women's network providing mentorship, events, and career advancement resources for professional women. Closely mirrors How Women Lead's community-led GTM and senior executive women member base.
• Watermark: Membership organization for women leaders in technology with events, leadership development, and community programs. Directly comparable to How Women Lead's mission to advance women into leadership roles through community and programming.
• Female Founders Fund: Early-stage venture fund investing in female-founded companies. Directly comparable to How Women Invest's strategy of exclusively funding women-only founded and run startups, with similar LP base of women investors.
• Springboard Enterprises: Nonprofit accelerator for women entrepreneurs seeking venture capital, with mentor networks and demo events. Overlaps with How Women Lead's investment programming and ecosystem of women founders seeking capital.
• Catalyst: Global nonprofit working to accelerate progress for women in the workplace through research, reporting, and corporate partnerships. Comparable to How Women Lead's Corporate Board Journey and leadership development programming targeting senior executive women.
• Tory Burch Foundation: Foundation supporting women entrepreneurs through capital, education, and community. Comparable to How Women Lead's mission of supporting women founders and executives, with similar Wells Fargo–type corporate partnerships and fellowship-style programming.
• SoGal Ventures: Global venture fund investing in diverse founders, with a strong community of women investors. Overlaps with How Women Invest's women-focused VC thesis and grassroots LP mobilization model.
• All Raise: Nonprofit dedicated to increasing diversity and gender equality in venture capital, supporting women funders and operators. Highly comparable to How Women Lead's combined leadership-investing mission, with similar community and education programming for women in tech and VC.

Emerging players

• Ellevest: Women-focused investing and financial planning platform with private-market offerings. Partially comparable to How Women Invest's goal of mobilizing women investors, though operating as a for-profit fintech rather than nonprofit.

Broad incumbents

• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with a dedicated board and CEO practice. Comparable to How Women Lead's Corporate Board Journey offering at a much larger scale, though serving all executives rather than women-specifically.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HowWomenLeadNat
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/howwomenlead
• Instagraminstagram.com/howwomenlead

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about How Women Lead