It is International Women’s Day, and at Zapnito we’re celebrating the women leading the way within their industries. Collective intelligence doesn’t exist without everyone’s voice being heard, and we’re thankful to every woman who has had to fight to make hers heard over the rest.

As our way of paying respect to all the women out there making a difference, here’s a rundown of 12 Zapnito online communities with women at the helm.

1. Let's Reset

Over 10% of the world’s population is estimated to suffer from mental health issues of some kind. That’s what makes Let’s Reset, an online community dedicated to changing the conversation surrounding employee wellbeing, so important. Founded by entrepreneur and business leader Suki Thompson, Let’s Reset has helped to change the conversation surrounding mental health in the workplace

Suki’s work with Centaur Media, the UK’s largest B2B media publisher, provided her with the skills and platform to create her own initiatives aimed at knowledge sharing and collective intelligence. Organizations can use the Let’s Reset community to find experts who are able to help promote mental health in the workplace, or share their success stories to inspire others looking to make a change in their companies.

2. Outsell

Co-founded and led by CEO, public speaker and writer Anthea Stratigos, Outsell brings together business leaders and executives from the data and information industry with the aim of advancing discovery, justice and commerce around the world. Having served businesses, their teams and investors for almost 30 years, Outsell has cemented itself as a trusted business information provider and an invaluable tool to executives around the world. 

In addition to her work with Outsell, Anthea has sat on boards such as Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County, American Business Media (ABM), and Innodata, Inc., a public company based in New Jersey, the NPD Group, Inc. and the Workplace Equity Project. She is also the author of multiple novels. Anthea’s leadership and lengthy list of achievements, both with Outsell and beyond, is an inspiration to women everywhere.

3. WildHub

Approximately 30,000 species of animal are driven to extinction every year - that’s three per hour. The world has begun to wake up to the true gravity of the problem, but there still remains a long way to go.

Step forward Thirza Loffeld and her WildHub community, which has already brought together 1500 conservationists online as the battle to protect our ecosystem and the animals occupying it continues. Having spent years working all over the planet as a researcher, Thirza decided to put her knowledge and years of experience with developing community programs to good use and bring experts together from across her industry.

Download our WildHub case study.

4. Points of Light

The world can seem like a cruel and unforgiving place at times, making it easy to lose hope. Thankfully, there are still people out there with superhuman qualities who show us what it means to give back - but all of us can still do more. 

This philosophy is what defines Points of Light, a community started with the aim of creating a culture of volunteerism on a global scale. With the organization’s management team and board of directors consisting almost entirely of women, we felt it serves as a great example of a women-led community that makes a big difference every day as it mobilizes volunteers in 250 cities worldwide.

5. The Marketing Academy

The Marketing Academy is a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing talent at every level in marketing, media, advertising and communications. It offers focused, high-level training aimed at developing leadership and other key workplace skills. The Marketing Academy is led by founder and CEO Sherilyn Shackell, who has built the community up and gained high-profile sponsors such as Facebook, KFC  and American Express.

6. Data Leaders

A platform for the data community, Data Leaders aims to optimize performance and reduce complexity across a variety of industries. The community is completely vendor-free, meaning ideas can be shared and developed away from the pressures of vested interests. 

At the heart of Data Leaders is Laura Bineviciute, Head of Content and Community. Her work has helped to keep the conversation going and turn Data Leaders into a go-to source of expertise within the data community.

7. Laidlaw

The battle for equality in society is an ongoing one, and sadly some people still have to fight twice as hard for the same opportunities others take for granted. The Laidlaw Foundation aims to break the cycle of poverty and inequality by providing paths to success to those from less privileged backgrounds. One of its many programs is the London Business School’s Women’s Movement, which aims to help more women gain their MBAs and produce a new generation of business leaders. 

The Laidlaw online community even has a specific section dedicated to women in business, where inspiring stories and words of encouragement can be shared. At the heart of this foundation is its CEO, Susanna Kempe, and Digital Content Manager Nikol Chen. The tireless work of these two individuals has allowed Laidlaw to pave the way in advancing opportunities for women of all backgrounds.

8. B2B Marketing

The concept of B2B marketing barely existed at the turn of the millennium. Today, it is a thriving industry in its own right. B2B Marketing was there from the very beginning; 18 years on, it provides a vast array of resources for B2B marketers in one place and has become a hotspot for expertise in the community. 

Having launched their Propolis online community in January 2021, the organization has expanded its aims in order to bring marketing experts together and encourage innovation and collaboration. Propolis is led by Community Manager Shivani Roda, while Customer Success Manager Katherine Bentley has also helped to put B2B Marketing on the map with her incredible work in helping customers become better at what they do.

Download our B2B Marketing case study.

9. FEBS

The Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) has been active since 1964. In that time, it has become one of the largest molecular life sciences organizations in all of Europe, amassing over 35,000 members. It is a grassroots organization, helping to provide a voice to the academic community without interference from vendors and commercial interests.

Carolyn Elliss serves as the Communications & Projects Manager for FEBS and has been dedicated to improving the services offered by the organization, helping the FEBS network to massively exceed its targets for growth.

Download our FEBS case study.

10. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

At a time when waste and inefficiency are wreaking havoc on our world and worsening the inequality in society, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has brought people together with the aim of creating a circular economy. Their recently-launched community allows users to share their own tips and success stories, speeding up innovation and helping to reduce waste in our economic system wherever possible.

Business Experience Manager Kimberley Heath has been with the EMF since 2015, moving up in the organization to become Community Manager for the CE100’s online platform with a focus on community engagement. Her work has been vital in advancing the profile and outreach of the foundation, allowing it to bring more people together and achieve their goals at a faster rate.

11. Sova Assessment

The struggle to create fair and equal employment opportunities for everyone has been well documented over the years. Conscious and unconscious biases affect industries at every level, meaning the odds are always stacked against some more than others.

Sova Assessment is an AI-driven talent assessment organization. Their mission is simple: help organizations make fairer decisions about people, so that the only deciding factor in hiring decisions is the candidate’s suitability for the role. Sova’s community launched in 2021 and was designed to provide a channel to help upskill organizations make better, fairer decisions about people. 

Claire Rahmatallah, Sova’s Director of Marketing, and Emma Foote, Head of Growth Marketing, play a major role in the direction of the community and have helped attract over 400 members since the launch. Claire and Emma recently joined us for our Customer Community Myth-Busting webinar, in which they helped us tackle some of the most commonly held misconceptions regarding online communities.

Download our Sova Assessment case study.

12. Chemist + Druggist (C+D)

Founded as a print publication over 150 years ago, C+D provides news, educational resources and networking opportunities to the UK’s large community of pharmaceutical professionals. In recent years, they have discontinued their weekly magazine and moved into cyberspace, creating a thriving jobs site and launching their own community in 2020 as a means of continuing their annual C+D Awards during the pandemic.

Two of the key names involved in the launch and upkeep of C+D’s community are Pippa Chadfield and Hayley-Rose Ballard, who serve as Product Director and Audience Development Manager respectively. Under their guidance, C+D were able to retain 95% of the audience size from the previous year’s awards in spite of the late switch to a virtual format. The community has also helped C+D improve engagement with their sponsored content, as well as increasing traffic to their jobs site.

Download our C+D case study.

All over the world, in every industry and field of interest, there are women like those named here carrying out vital work. They may still have to fight for equal pay and work twice as hard for the same level of recognition - but those days are numbered. This International Women’s Day, we want to send our love and gratitude to all the women out there making a difference. Keep doing what you do; we can’t change the world without you.