WorldWIT Celebrates Six Years of Helping Women Worldwide

Boasting 80 chapters in 25 countries, WorldWIT has grown to become THE opinion leader for professional women

(PRWEB) August 11, 2005

Boulder, Colorado (PRWEB) August 11, 2005 – This August, WorldWIT™ celebrates its sixth anniversary and 40,000th member. In the summer of 1999 Liz Ryan, working mother and former Fortune 500 executive, was pushing her toddler on a swing when she envisioned a community connecting professional women worldwide. Her initial idea that “smart women should know one another” has evolved into a premier, award-winning women’s think tank offering on- and offline services for women in 80 cities around the globe, including blogs, podcasting, teleseminars, a job bank, radio show, event listings and one-of-a kind content.

“We morphed, in the last six years, from a tactical question-and-answer forum to a ringside observer of the changing scene vis-a-vis women at work,” says CEO and founder, Liz Ryan. “Stories and learning flood into our inboxes, and at this point, although nothing (much) surprises us, we're very clear that women are changing the nature of organizations profoundly,” she continued. Through the global network and unique product line WorldWIT has enabled women to make professional and personal connections around the planet, empowering them to pioneer change within the business arena worldwide.

Since 1999, WorldWIT has also established themselves as a major intellectual resource and content source in the area of women at work in the white-collar world. And in celebration of its sixth anniversary, WorldWIT plans to launch a redesigned Web site (http://www.worldwit.org) this fall. The new site will include a self service mechanism allowing users to post jobs, events and sponsorship messages. In addition, the site will contain a new searchable job bank and an expanded events calendar. The site will continue to offer a customized page for each of its chapters, an events section for members to learn about upcoming events in their cities as well as advertising vehicles for the organizations growing number of sponsors. The new site also includes additional content and services from WorldWIT's resident experts, subscribers, partners and sponsors.

WorldWIT will also continue to offer its members WorldWIT Radio, a weekly Internet radio show featuring industry top brass, as well as Thinking Aloud, a weekly HTML newsletter which provides in-depth information and articles on trends and current events taking place around the world that have an impact on professional women as well as exclusive surveys, on-target Blogs and a forum to share mentoring, advice and ideas with other women eager to connect.

In fact, WorldWIT’s unflagging commitment to its members and momentous growth is clearly evident in the last year alone. The company has:

•     Launched six new chapters in the US and abroad.
•     Held 70 events all over the world
•     Launched 12 WorldWIT Blogs (http://www.worldwit.org/blogs.aspx)
•     Produced TeleSeminar series (http://www.worldwit.org/teleclass)
•     Seen their commentary on women in the workplace, entrepreneurism, and work and family issues reach over 100 million people via print, broadcast and online media.
•     Held the second Camp WorldWIT weekend in May, 2005
•     Won four big awards:
•     Woman’s Business Association of the Year, 2004 Stevie™ Awards
•     2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from Colorado Women In Technology
•     2005 Women of Achievement Trailblazer Award from Association for Women in Communications
•     2005 Enterprising Women Advocacy Award , Enterprising Women magazine
•     Launched two new products:
•     Private Chapters – moderated and hosted email communities for women's organizations and alumni groups.
•     The Bridge – a customized corporate-community solution that brings WorldWIT-style connections and collaboration functionality to corporate employees.

WorldWIT’s mission to support women as professional leaders and help them achieve work/life balance is fulfilled on a global scale through more than a million email messages every month. Its members include successful and highly educated women in business, technology, professional services, law, the arts, media, government and academia. Over 71 percent of WorldWIT members earn over $60,000 per year; 52 percent earn over $80,000 and 36 percent over $100,000. Ninety-five percent have completed college, and 34 percent have a master’s degree or doctorate. Members use the moderated discussion lists to get advice on issues ranging from starting a new business to earning a promotion, finding childcare to relocating or changing careers. In addition, the organization has helped open doors in many fields in which women were previously under-represented and has been recently cited as a main contributor to Forbes magazine’s 2005 list of ‘Most Powerful Women’.

Some of WorldWIT’s largest chapters include ChicWIT, MassWIT, SilcWIT (Silicon Valley, CA), RockyWIT (Colorado), NYCWIT, CapitolWIT (Washington, D.C. and environs), CoastWIT (Los Angeles, CA), PeachWIT (Atlanta, GA), and PhillyWIT. Overseas, there are thriving chapters in Australia, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, the Middle East and eight throughout Europe—offering networking in six languages.

From day one, WorldWIT has never charged membership dues and has no plans to change that policy, as corporate sponsors support the free membership. Liz Ryan adds, “WorldWIT has been able to create a vibrant, real-time, effective networking forum and proprietary sought-after content with no dues and no outside funding, an unheard-of proposition!”

As founder of WorldWIT, Liz Ryan draws on her twenty plus years of experience in growing organizations, from Chicago startup Recycled Paper Products, to datacomm manufacturer U.S. Robotics, to home networking startup Ucentric Systems (now a Motorola subsidiary), which she co-founded in 1999. A mother of five who has perfected the art of business travel, Ryan has become a recognized expert on workplace issues, careers, networking and organizational strategy. In addition, Liz is the on-air career expert for her local 9 News, Denver’s NBC affiliate, a contributor to Business Week Online and many other regional and national publications, and an acclaimed speaker on a variety of women’s and workplace topics. Ryan is also a member of the National Speakers Association.

For more information on WorldWIT or to speak with Liz Ryan, contact Kristi Hughes at 215-816-2954.

About WorldWIT

Founded in Chicago in 1999, WorldWIT (http://www.worldwit.org) is the world’s largest online networking organization for professional women in business, formed for women to share advice and ideas with other women eager to “connect.” It reaches 40,000 women globally via moderated, local email discussion groups like ChicWIT (Chicago), HoustonWIT and BritWIT (Great Britain), and through local events and activities in 25 countries and 80 cities around the world. WorldWIT is also the proud winner of the 2004 Stevie™ Award for Best Woman’s Business Association.

The membership is free and is comprised of women who range from corporate CEOs, government officials, legal professionals, marketing and media experts to home-based consultants and entrepreneurs. Its founder, Liz Ryan, was the first female vice president at U.S. Robotics and is a popular columnist, speaker and “at work issues” expert. She has been featured by such media as TIME, Fortune, The New York Times, CNN, CNBC and CN8. Liz is also a regular contributor to Business Week Online and the on-air workplace expert for Denver’s NBC affiliate, 9 News. WorldWIT is headquartered in Boulder, CO.

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