Empowering Women in Industry

What Empowering Women in Industry does

Empowering Women in Industry is a privately held community organization founded in 2018 by Charli K. Matthews and headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It serves women working in manufacturing, energy, water, engineering, construction, and industrial trades, along with corporate employers in those sectors seeking to support and retain women through sponsorship and DEI-aligned engagement. The organization operates a tiered annual membership program (Friend at $195, Advocate at $595, and Ambassador at $2,095) that unlocks access to conferences, mentorship circles, a job board, leadership webinars, and on-demand conference recordings.

The core platform is a Wix-based website with integrated membership management, event registration, podcast hosting, and digital magazine delivery, supplemented by Launchpass for community engagement. The product portfolio centers on three in-person event formats - an annual 2-day National Conference (scheduled for New Orleans, September 30 - October 1, 2026), a Carolinas Conference in Greenville, SC, and an Alabama Conference in Tuscaloosa - alongside a weekly podcast hosted by Shannon Bumgarner, a monthly digital magazine, monthly virtual meet-ups, mentorship circles, and a 5-week leadership development course. The organization runs an annual awards program recognizing women across 13+ industry categories since 2019.

Revenue is generated through annual membership subscriptions, conference ticket sales (with tiered member discounts), corporate sponsorships at the Advocate and Ambassador levels, and bundled digital magazine/newsletter delivery. The organization is founder-owned and bootstrapped, with 7 employees, no disclosed external funding, and a modest but growing enterprise sponsor base including Mueller Water Products, Taco Comfort Solutions, Grundfos, Industrial Flow Solutions, IDCO, and Triton College. A LinkedIn Group with 12,100+ members provides the primary community distribution channel.

Name

Empowering Women in Industry

Legal name

Empowering Women in Industry

Website

https://empoweringwomeninindustry.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Empowering Women in Industry is a Tuscaloosa-based community organization founded in 2018 that supports women in manufacturing, energy, water, engineering, and construction through tiered annual memberships, national and regional conferences, mentorship circles, a podcast, and a digital magazine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Development & Community Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPACALAG

Mentorship, Coaching & Office-Hours Platforms

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Digital Media & Content Platforms (Online Video, Podcasts, Creators)/Online Learning Content Platforms (Creator-Led Courses)

SECONDARYEDABAAAB

People Management & Supervisory Skills

Education/Corporate Training & Professional Development/Leadership & Management Development

Keywords

• Professional development community
• Women in industry networking
• Industrial leadership programs
• Manufacturing conference events
• Corporate sponsorship membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Tuscaloosa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership subscriptions at three tiers (Friend $195, Advocate $595, Ambassador $2,095) providing directory access, content library, event discounts, and job board access.
2. Conference Tickets: Revenue from in-person and virtual conference attendance, with member discounts varying by tier.
3. Sponsorships: Corporate sponsorships at Ambassador and Advocate levels with brand visibility on website, promotions, and event materials.
4. Digital Magazine & Newsletter: Monthly email newsletter and digital magazine included with subscription, driving engagement and retention.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Empowering Women in Industry operates a membership-based community and professional development platform for women working in manufacturing, energy, water, engineering, construction, and skilled trades. It sells annual tiered memberships (Friend, Advocate, Ambassador) that grant access to on-demand content, mentorship circles, virtual meet-ups, webinars, a job board, and conference discounts, and it produces a national conference, regional one-day conferences, a weekly podcast, a monthly digital magazine, and an annual awards program.

Product overview

Empowering Women in Industry is a community organization rather than a software product company. The organization operates a platform-plus-programs model consisting of a core membership community with tiered subscription levels (Friend, Advocate, Ambassador) that provides access to educational content and networking. The product portfolio includes the annual National Conference featuring an Awards GALA, regional conferences (Carolinas Conference in Greenville SC, Alabama Conference in Tuscaloosa AL), the Empowering Women Podcast, and a Digital Magazine. Members also access supplementary offerings including a 5-Week Leadership Development Course, monthly Virtual Meet-Ups, Mentorship Circles, on-demand Conference Videos, Leadership Webinars, and a Job Board. The organization hosts virtual events via Zoom and maintains an online presence through its Wix-based website and social media channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Empowering Women Podcast: A podcast featuring interviews with women leaders in industry, covering topics such as leadership, engineering, STEM, and personal growth.

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mueller Water ProductscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmbassador Member sponsor supporting Empowering Women in Industry initiatives with visibility on website and at conferences. Provides corporate backing for women in the water/pump industry.
• Taco Comfort SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmbassador Member sponsor with membership covering up to 10 employees. Supports women in HVAC/plumbing industry through corporate sponsorship.
• GrundfoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmbassador Member sponsor providing corporate support for women in the pump and water industry through the Empowering Women organization.
• Industrial Flow SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvocate Member sponsor supporting women in the industrial flow solutions sector with visibility on website and event promotions.
• IDCO (Industrial Distribution Co.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvocate Member sponsor providing corporate sponsorship and support for women in the industrial distribution industry.
• Triton CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational institution supporting women in industry through Ambassador Member sponsorship and workforce development initiatives.
• National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeIla, featured speaker, is involved with both Empowering Women in Industry and NAWIC, creating cross-organizational community connections.
• Habitat for Humanity - Women's BuildminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeIla, featured speaker, is involved with Habitat for Humanity Women's Build, connecting community service with women empowerment in construction trades.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Women of Asphalt: Women of Asphalt is a coalition for women in the asphalt industry offering networking, scholarships, and events - similar in structure to EWI: vertical-specific, membership-driven, conference-supported, sponsor-funded. It is a tightly analogous peer within a different industrial sub-vertical.
• Million Women Mentors: Million Women Mentors is an initiative supporting girls and women in STEM through mentoring, with corporate partner engagement and recognition events - directly comparable to EWI's mentorship circles and corporate-sponsorship model with a STEM-and-industry adjacent focus.
• Women in Trucking Association: Women in Trucking is a non-profit supporting women in the trucking and logistics industry through membership, an annual conference, awards, and corporate partnerships - a directly comparable vertical-specific, conference-and-membership-driven organization targeting women in transportation/logistics.
• Women in Manufacturing Association (WiM): Women in Manufacturing is a national association dedicated to supporting, promoting, and inspiring women in manufacturing careers. It operates membership tiers, an annual conference (WiM SUMMIT), awards programs, and regional chapters - directly comparable to EWI's manufacturing-focused community, conferences, and tiered membership model.
• ATHENA International: ATHENA International is a women's leadership organization that delivers leadership development programs, mentorship, and recognition (ATHENA Award) through local affiliates. It mirrors EWI's leadership-course + mentorship-circles + awards-program model and competes for similar corporate sponsor dollars.
• Women in HVAC/R: Women in HVAC/R is an industry group specifically supporting women in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration trades with events, networking, and recognition. It overlaps directly with EWI's industrial-trade focus and serves overlapping industrial employer sponsors (e.g., Taco Comfort Solutions).
• National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC): NAWIC is a long-standing membership organization for women in the construction industry, offering chapters, an annual conference, awards, and education programs - structurally analogous to EWI's vertical-specific membership + conference + awards model. Note: NAWIC is an existing EWI partner through a featured speaker.

Broad incumbents

• Society of Women Engineers (SWE): SWE is a large, established not-for-profit serving women engineers across STEM disciplines, with national/regional conferences, awards, scholarships, and career resources - a much larger incumbent whose membership + conference + awards playbook EWI partially replicates for the broader industrial workforce.
• Catalyst: Catalyst is a global research and advisory nonprofit advancing women in the workplace, with corporate memberships, reports, and recognition programs (Catalyst Award). It is a broader incumbent in the women-in-workplace space and overlaps on corporate-sponsor-driven revenue and recognition-program models.
• LeanIn.Org: LeanIn.Org is a large nonprofit community advancing women through small-group 'Circles' (peer mentorship), leadership programming, and partnerships with employers. Its Circle-based community model is structurally analogous to EWI's mentorship circles; broader in demographic scope but similar in community-driven engagement mechanics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/womeninind
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@EmpoweringWomeninIndustry
• Facebookfacebook.com/empoweringwomeninindustry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/empowering-women-in-industry
• Instagraminstagram.com/empoweringwomeninindustry/?hl=en

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 Empowering Women in Industry