Ladies, Wine & Design

What Ladies, Wine & Design does

Ladies, Wine & Design (LW&D) is a global non-profit initiative founded in 2015 by designer Jessica Walsh, headquartered in New York City. The organization operates a decentralized chapter network spanning more than 285 cities across 60+ countries, delivering free mentorship circles, portfolio reviews, talks, and creative meetups for women, non-binary, agender, and gender non-conforming creatives, with a secondary focus on trans and BIPOC participants. Its stated purpose is to address the under-representation of women and non-binary people in creative leadership, anchored to the statistic that only 0.1% of creative agencies are founded by women and non-binary people, with an intersectional approach that broadens the addressable community.

There is no proprietary software platform powering the initiative; LW&D runs on community organizing, social media (principally Instagram at @ladieswinedesign), an email newsletter, and Eventbrite for ticketing, with chapter hosts in each city working as volunteers. The business model is sponsorship-funded rather than transactional: &Walsh (Jessica Walsh's studio) is the sole disclosed financial sponsor, the organization has been entirely self-funded since founding, and NYC events remain free by design, with some chapters outside NYC charging modest fees only to cover hard costs such as venue and speakers. The organization has stated it will never operate on a for-profit basis and is actively seeking additional corporate sponsors to fund larger events and hire staff — at present there is no formal employee structure beyond the founder.

Distinction from a typical venture-stage company is material for an investment audience: LW&D is an intentionally non-commercial, mission-driven network that explicitly disclaims any path to for-profit status. Its growth from a single NYC chapter to 285+ cities in roughly a decade has been achieved with volunteer labor, near-zero acquisition cost, and a single named sponsor, which produces a low cash burn but also caps the organization's ability to invest, hire, or experiment with new programming absent additional sponsorship.

Name

Ladies, Wine & Design

Legal name

Ladies, Wine & Design

Website

https://ladieswinedesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ladies, Wine & Design is a global non-profit founded in 2015 by designer Jessica Walsh, operating a volunteer network of 285+ chapters across 60+ countries that delivers free mentorship, portfolio reviews, and creative meetups for women, non-binary, and BIPOC creatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Sponsorships: The organization operates as a non-profit and relies on sponsorships for funding. Currently, Walsh (andwalsh.com) is the sole financial sponsor. They are seeking additional corporate sponsors to help fund larger events and hire staff.
2. Event Revenue (occasional): Some chapters outside of NYC charge small fees to cover hard costs of events such as speakers and space. NYC-based events remain free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ladies, Wine & Design is a global non-profit initiative that delivers free mentorship circles, portfolio reviews, talks, and creative meetups to underrepresented women, non-binary, agender, gender non-conforming, trans, and BIPOC creatives through a network of more than 285 volunteer-hosted chapters across 60+ countries. Programs are organized locally by chapter hosts and facilitated via in-person and virtual events, with mentorship matching handled through email and video chat.

Product overview

Ladies, Wine & Design is a global non-profit initiative, not a traditional product company. The organization operates through a network of over 285 city chapters worldwide, offering free community services including mentorship circles, portfolio reviews, talks, creative meetups, and interview preparation events for underrepresented women, non-binary, and BIPOC creatives. The organization does not offer a software product, platform, or digital product for sale.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mentorship Circles Free mentorship matching and facilitated mentorship circles for underrepresented creatives in the design industry. Available through email inquiry and conducted digitally via video chat.
• Portfolio Reviews Free portfolio review sessions (virtual and in-person) for creatives run by local chapters, featuring senior designers and creative leaders as reviewers.
• Creative Meetups, Talks & Workshops Free or low-cost talks, workshops, salon nights, and creative meetups organized by local chapters covering topics such as user research, interviewing, lino printing, and industry trends.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The Futur: Education and community platform for creative entrepreneurs offering courses, mentorship, and events. Comparable in serving the same creative-professional audience, though primarily through paid content rather than free community events.
• AIGA Women Lead: Affinity initiative within AIGA focused on advancing women in design. Directly comparable to LW&D's mission and programming, though operating as a sub-community of the larger AIGA umbrella.
• AIGA (Professional Association for Design): Largest professional membership association for designers in the U.S., with chapters and programming that overlap with LW&D's mission of advancing creative professionals. Comparable as a community/membership organization serving designers, though broader in scope and less focused on women/non-binary audiences.

Regional players

• She Says: Global women's creative networking community with local chapter events focused on women in creative industries. Closely aligned with LW&D's chapter model and mission, though primarily rooted in Europe.

Direct peers

• Ladies Get Paid: Community and platform for women advancing in their careers, founded by Claire Wasserman. Directly competes for the same women-in-the-workplace audience, with mentorship, events, and an online community — overlap on persona, programming, and brand positioning.
• Creative Mornings: Global monthly breakfast lecture series for creatives with chapters in 200+ cities. Operates an almost identical volunteer-led chapter model, free events, and creative-community audience — making it the closest structural comparable to LW&D's chapter-network approach.

Emerging players

• ADPList: Global mentorship platform connecting learners with design and product mentors. Overlaps with LW&D's free portfolio-review and mentorship mission, but delivered through a tech platform rather than volunteer chapter events.
• 100 Black Women in Design: Community organization advocating for Black women in the design industry. Directly serves an overlapping intersectional audience and offers comparable programming (mentorship, networking, visibility) — a niche competitor within LW&D's stated mission.
• Creative Women of the World: Networking and mentorship community for women across creative disciplines. Comparable mission and audience targeting, with similar event-driven and mentorship programming.

Others

• Squarespace (Design Awards / Circle): While not a direct community, Squarespace sponsors and engages the design community via awards, content, and educational programming. Comparable as a potential sponsor/partner archetype given LW&D's reliance on corporate sponsorship for sustainability.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/ladieswinedesign
• Xx.com/lwd_dc
• Facebookfacebook.com/ladieswinedesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ladieswinedesign

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Ladies, Wine & Design