The Renaissance of Women's Sports

tumay aslay November 4, 2023

How Women Athletes Are Transforming the Game and Society

By Ariel Neidermeier

Welcome to the golden age of women’s sports. In the last year, we’ve seen Coco Gauff outshine Novak Djokovic at the Grand Slam of the U.S. Open; Simone Biles become the most decorated gymnast in history; record-breaking crowds at the Women’s World Cup; and a women’s N.C.A.A tournament that far overshadowed the men’s.

Historically, women’s sports have been outrageously underestimated, undervalued, and under-funded. Plagued by low viewership and the stereotype that female athletes showcase less skill than their male counterparts, support for female empowerment has been underwhelming in the high-grossing arenas of professional basketball, tennis, soccer, gymnastics and surfing — until now. We’ve rounded up some women athletes who are disrupting sports as we know it.

Women to Watch

Women’s sports are on the rise. The WNBA’s national viewership is up a historical 67%. The women’s basketball league has also seen a 27% boom in in-person attendance and 60% surge in merchandise sales. And, it’s not the only sports arena seeing a boom. The opening match of the 2023 Women’s World Cup had to be moved to a stadium that could hold more than 80,000 people before promptly selling out. In fact, the Women’s World Cup contributed to a 28% increase in time spent watching women’s sports in the UK. In the United States, even women’s volleyball is drawing historic crowds. An incredible 92,003 college volleyball fans packed the University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium earlier this year, breaking the previous record for attendance at a women’s sporting event in the US - which was 90,185 set back in 1999 when Brandi Chastain famously ripped off her shirt to celebrate the US team’s World Cup win at the Rose Bowl in California. Across every sports genre it seems there is a female athlete winning the hearts and minds of the people. Here are a few that have won ours.

Simone Biles

The accomplishments of gymnastics superstar and advocate Simone Biles are well-documented, stretching from her early successes in the U.S. and World Championships to her dominance in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Beyond the medals and milestones, Biles has become a staunch advocate for women’s rights and athletes’ mental health. Her withdrawal from events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics highlighted the mental health struggles faced by many athletes at the highest levels of competition. Moreover, Biles has been an outspoken advocate for women's rights, especially in the wake of revelations about the abuse perpetrated by former team doctor Larry Nassar. Her voice joined those of hundreds of female athletes in the #MeToo movement, bringing attention to systemic abuse within the sport and calling for accountability and change within gymnastic institutions. After a two-year break, Biles’ return to the global professional gymnastics arena has been triumphant. She once again left her mark on the sport, clinching four gold medals at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, to become the most decorated gymnast in history.

Coco Gauff

Rising tennis star Coco Gauff has inspired such attention that the media has coined a term for it: “Cocomania”. At just 19 years old, Gauff won her first Grand Slam at the 2023 US Open. She is the first American teenager to do so since Serena Williams won in 1999 at the age of 17. Gauff’s victory against Aryna Sabalenka was watched by 3.4 million viewers on ESPN, the network's largest ever TV audience for a women's tennis Grand Slam final. This outpaced the 2.3 million people who tuned in for the men’s final, in which Novak Djokovic beat Daniil Medvedev, by 47%. Gauff’s victorious rise also came at a fittingly fateful moment: the 2023 US Open marked the 50th anniversary of Billie Jean King’s successful push for equal prize money at the event — a historical triumph for women’s sports.

Alex Morgan

American soccer player Alex Morgan has combined athleticism and charisma to become one of the biggest stars and highest wage earners of U.S. women’s soccer. The outspoken striker, who has scored 121 goals in 207 internationals, has also been a central figure in the US women's national team's fight for equal pay. In 2019, Morgan and several teammates on the USWNT sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. They sought pay and working conditions equal to those of the men’s team. The players eventually reached a landmark settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation in February 2022 in which the federation agreed to pay $24 million to USWNT members. The federation also agreed to pay men and women equally in all future tournaments and non tournament games.

Candace Parker

Known as one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, Candace Parker is the first player in WNBA history to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Rookie of the Year in the same year. She’s won two WNBA titles, the first with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016 and another with the Chicago Sky in 2021. At the international level, Parker was also a key member of the U.S. women’s basketball teams that captured the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and 2012 Olympic Games in London. Personally, Parker is paving the way for authenticity and LGBTQIA+ awareness. In 2021, she made public that she had been married for two years to Anna Petrakova, a former Olympic basketball player from Russia who played with Parker on a pro team there. She said her daughter was her motivation for coming out: “I always tell my daughter to be proud of who she is. And I always tell my daughter to speak for herself and speak up for those that she loves. And I can’t say that to her if I’m not doing it myself.”

Bianca Valenti

San Francisco’s own Bianca Valenti is not only a world champion big wave surfer but also an unstoppable force both on and off the waves. Recently dominating the annual Mavericks Surf Awards, Valenti clinched victories for Best Performer, Biggest Wave, and Best Ride in the female category, showcasing her unparalleled skill in one of surfing's most daring environments. Her accolades don't end at the waves. Valenti's advocacy work, especially towards increasing opportunities for women, girls, and outdoor athletes, has earned her recognition worldwide. As the Big Wave Athlete Representative to The World Surf League and co-founder of BetterWave, she champions for the betterment of athletes everywhere. Beyond the waves and her advocacy, Valenti passionately volunteers with organizations like Brown Girl Surf and MeWater Foundation, ensuring future generations can experience the joy of the ocean. In her "downtime", she co-runs Valenti & Co Ristorante and Vinobar, mentors young athletes, and empowers change-makers through speaking engagements.

The pay and media gap in women’s athletics

Despite the rising popularity of women’s sports, there are still major discrepancies in the media coverage and pay that female athletes receive. Women’s sports receive less than 10% of total sports coverage, yet women represent more than 40% of all athletes. When it comes to salary, WNBA athletes are drastically underpaid compared to NBA players. As of this year, the highest NBA salary was $51,915,615, while the highest WNBA salary was only $234,936. In fact, many WNBA athletes play overseas during the offseason to supplement their WNBA incomes. In soccer, a 2023 CNN analysis showed that international female soccer players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup still earn an average 25 cents to every dollar earned by men at their 2022 World Cup.

Elevating the game

The good news is that despite these discrepancies, progress is happening. As mentioned above, because of the USWNT’s dogged pursuit for equal pay and working conditions to the men’s team (the team’s initial lawsuit was dismissed in a federal district court, which they then appealed), the landmark Equal Pay for Team USA Act was passed in 2022. This legislation ensures that all athletes who represent the United States in global competitions like the World Cup, Olympics, and Paralympics receive equal pay and benefits. It came two years after the USWNT wore their warm-up jerseys inside out to hide the U.S. Soccer Federation’s crest in protest of its court filing that stated that women players did not perform jobs requiring “equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions” in comparison to the men’s team.

From disparity to destiny

The numbers don't lie. Viewership and attendance at women's sporting events are skyrocketing, and it’s a testament to the captivating talent and determination these athletes exhibit. However, the glaring disparities in pay and media coverage can't be ignored. It's a call to action for sports federations, media outlets, and fans alike to elevate women's sports to the pedestal it truly deserves. If history has taught us anything, it's that change, though sometimes slow, is inevitable. With the relentless spirit of these athletes, a more equitable future for women in sports isn't just a dream; it's on the horizon.

About the Author - Ariel Neidermeier (she/her) is a first generation Filipina-American writer educated in journalism at Emerson College and international relations at the University of California, San Diego. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And the Oscar should go to...

tumay aslay February 28, 2023

By Ariel Neidermeier

From strong female leads to female directors who centered the stories of women, with the 95th Academy Awards just around the corner, we’re rounding up the movies from 2022 that made us think about the triumphs and trials of the female experience.

Disregarding categories specifically reserved for women (e.g. “Best Actress”, “Best Supporting Actress”), only 27% of Oscar nominees in non-acting categories at the 2022 Academy Awards were female according to data from the Women’s Media Center. This represents a decrease in representation from 2020 and 2021, when the share of women nominated was 30% and 32%, respectively. Furthermore, this ongoing lack of representation has continued into this year’s Academy Awards, with female directors shut out from the director category entirely.

Instead, the nominees for the best director of 2022 were strictly male, including Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans), Todd Field (Tár) and Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness).

Who didn’t make the 2022 Best Director nominees list… and should have? Female directors like Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Chinonye Chukwu (Till), Maria Schrader (She Said) and Charlotte Wells (Aftersun).

Some of the films that follow have been recognized by major awards organizations, many of them have not. Regardless, it's movies like these we want to see more of on the silver screen.

AFTERSUN

Aftersun is a delicate and universal portrait of grief, memory and perception. Told through the eyes of a daughter remembering a final interaction with her father, the memory takes place as she reaches the beginnings of puberty, a tender time when a young woman is waking up to her own sexuality — and noticing others noticing it too. Weaving camcorder footage, memories and subconscious strikes of imagination, writer and director Charlotte Wells seems to channel a memory rather than retell a story. The result is a loving and heartfelt depiction of a father-daughter relationship. Vacationing in Turkey, they tour a mud bath, swim in the sea and sit at all-inclusive buffet dinners. Their relationship is poignant and realistic. Sometimes they squabble, sometimes they laugh, oftentimes they sit in an intimate yet fretful silence. It’s not a story of unique tragedy, but a story that is common to all humans: the experience of loss. There comes a time when all of us will do what’s portrayed in Aftersun: sort through old footage and relive memories of the ones we’ve loved and lost.

ENOLA HOLMES II

A rollicking ride through Victorian-era London through the eyes of an extraordinarily clever young detective, Enola Holmes 2 is for a night when you want to escape into a world where all mysteries — and misogynistic tyrannies — can be solved. This is the second in a series of films that gives a feminist twist on the classic tale of Sherlock Holmes (Enola, played by Millie Bobby Brown, is his younger sister). Enola’s mystery to solve: Find a missing girl and amplify the labor rights of mistreated female workers in the process. Flashbacks to Enola’s unorthodox childhood with her mother played by Helena Bonham Carter grounds this film in an independent quirkiness that makes the high stakes of female empowerment at the turn of the century feel lighthearted — if not downright fun. Buoyant, daring and touching on the importance of human rights and collectivism, this quick-witted film (series) is one to watch.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Surreal, twisting and full of surprises, Everything Everywhere All at Once manages to blend fantastical plot twists and the mundane scapes of the human experience (the majority of the film takes place in an IRS government building) to tackle tender topics like intergenerational trauma, the immigrant experience and complicated family relationships. Part kung fu action film, part sci-fi thriller, the locus of activity in Everything Everywhere All at Once revolves around a fraught mother-daughter relationship between the exasperated Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) and her dispirited daughter (Stephanie Hsu). The fantastical interpretation of their discontented relationship in the dream world conjured by the movie’s creators (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) is somehow both exhilarating and relatable. In this multiverse, every choice leads to an unending web of paths not picked, and possible lives never lived. Characters can use “jumping pads” — random, improbable acts — to access skills from these unlived lives, tapping into singing talents, martial arts mastery and more to take down their enemies. Another benefit of this set-up is the unending array of possibilities to forgive, love and heal. The feeling one gets after watching this film is one all moviegoers yearn for: hope that anything, anywhere, all at once — is possible.

MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS

From humble beginnings to the height of high fashion, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris follows the delightful journey of a woman finding her way after tragedy. Lesley Manville plays Mrs. Harris, a disheartened widow toiling in post WWII London. What does Mrs. Harris do when all is lost and there’s nothing left to hope for? She saves up the money to fly to Paris and buy herself a haute couture Dior gown. What follows is a dashing story of love, friendship and the reminder that it’s never too late to have an adventure and discover joy in your life. Mrs. Harris might be a humble housemaid, but she deserves a beautiful dress to make her feel special like we all do. This Cinderella-esque story is whimsical, dreamy and for one hour and 56 minutes, makes the world a much brighter, magical, well-dressed place.

SHE SAID

Based on the nonfiction book of the same name, She Said is a quietly thrilling recounting of the investigation of Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, The New York Times journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse story in 2017. It was this historic investigation that would catapult the #MeToo movement as well as several indictments against Weinstein for sexual abuse and rape. Like a fact-checked, clearly-reported article, the film clearly retells what happened, without grandstanding or extraneous detail. It also sheds light on the methodical precision it takes to build trust with sexual abuse victims in order to break news stories of this nature. The journalistic work of Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey is masterfully depicted by actresses Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan. While the film casts itself in the mold of other depictions of groundbreaking investigative reporting (All the President’s Men, Spotlight) director Maria Schrader tells the story through a distinctly female gaze. You see how Kantor and Twohey’s personal lives are affected by their work and vice versa, with the film tackling the challenges of postpartum depression and the day-to-day balance of work, motherhood and marriage. What the viewer is left with is an elegant and realistic portrait of professional women doing great work.

She Said should be viewed with a trigger warning to those sensitive to material suggesting or depicting sexual harassment and abuse.

THE WOMAN KING

The Woman King is a triumphant film. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and led by a spectacular performance by Viola Davis, The Woman King tells the true story of an army of women warriors in the precolonial West African Kingdom of Dahomey. From nail-biting battle scenes to inspiring montages of young warriors learning to fight, this movie showcases the dynamic strength of Black women. It’s particularly riveting to see a film that forgoes superhero strengths and magical gifts to imbue women with skills that are realistic and human. These warriors can twirl javelins, spin ropes and throw swords with exquisite skill. War scenes are balanced with a healthy dose of cultural celebration, including African dancing, singing and joy. The Woman King is also grounded in a tender depiction of sisterhood, chosen family and mother-daughter dynamics. It’s films like these that feel like a much-needed victory in today’s constantly bleak news landscape. And, it’s films like these that remind us that throughout human history, lurking in the shadow of every story of suffering is a story of transcendence too.

The Woman King should be viewed with a heavy trigger warning to those sensitive to material suggesting or depicting sexual violence.

THE SWIMMERS

The valiant and true story of the Mudini sisters provides viewers with a good cry and a healthy helping of hope. Focusing on the tale of two Syrian sisters trained in competitive swimming, younger sister Yusra’s (Nathalie Issa) aspirations to compete in the Olympics might be the connecting thread in this film but what belies it is an important story of the refugee experience. Yusra and Sara travel from Syria to Turkey, swim for their lives during a harrowing boat ride from Turkey to Greece and continue their dangerous trek across the Hungarian border. Making it to Berlin, they’re left to wait in an interminable limbo of refugee camp life and paperwork while also hoping to see if they can bring their remaining mother, father and young sister to safety from Damascus. In its twists and turns, The Swimmers is like a modern-day odyssey but one that is far from myth. Almost exactly 12 years since the start of the Syrian Civil War, it’s a stark reminder of the millions of refugees (half of whom are under the age of 18) who continue to risk their lives (and lose them) to find safety, freedom and hope in lands far from home — an ongoing global crisis that would do all of us good to remember.

TILL

Retelling the true story of Emmett Till through the eyes of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, Till reminds us of what it takes to open the eyes of a nation. In a heartbreaking scene depicting Emmett’s funeral, at which Mamie insists to show his body in an open casket, her crying aunt chokes “I can’t look at him,” to which Mamie responds: “We have to.” In the same way, Till asks us to look at the human consequences of our nation’s chronic violence against Black people. It is inconceivable to murder a 14 year-old boy for whistling, just as it is inconceivable for us to look at his brutalized body in the film. A stunning performance by Danielle Deadwyler paints a vivid portrait of a woman whose grief and strength transforms history. It’s because of Mamie Till-Mobley that we continue to hold Emmett Till’s story in our hearts with anguish. It is because of Mamie Till-Mobley that the names of so many unjustly taken bright souls are still shouted and remembered. The solitary suffering and eternal conviction of mothers like Mamie Till-Mobley galvanized the Civil Rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond, a fact that Till masterfully brings our attention to.

WOMEN TALKING

Women Talking is a one hour and 44 minute film that showcases exactly that: a group of Mennonite women talking about what to do after suffering unspeakable violence. Their options: forgive, stay and fight, or leave. Based on a true story, the film begins with the words “what follows is an act of female imagination.” These words set the stage for a sequence of events that feel dream-like, the way abuse can feel dream-like when individuals are gaslighted into disbelieving their own suffering. In a welcome respite from the fetishization of female pain and sexual violence often depicted on the silver screen, director Sarah Polley skillfully invokes the abuse that took place without ever actually depicting it. Instead, the conversations of the women processing their experiences are centered —- as they should be in the aftermath of abuse. Balancing the horror of the events recounted is a beautiful depiction of strength and sisterhood. It’s inspiring to watch a group of women who have never been taught to read or to think independently conjure the magical thinking required to believe they can assert their freedom. It makes one believe that the simple act of a group of women talking could very possibly change the world.

Women Talking should be viewed with a heavy trigger warning to those sensitive to material suggesting or depicting sexual violence.

Official movie posters sources: Aftersun by A24 Films, Enola Holmes 2 by Netflix, Everything Everywhere All At Once by A24 Films, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Focus Features and Universal Pictures, She Said by Universal Pictures, The Woman King by Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Swimmers by Netflix, Till by United Artists Releasing and Universal Pictures, Women Talking by United Artists Releasing.

About the Author - Ariel Neidermeier (she/her) is a first generation Filipina-American writer educated in journalism at Emerson College and international relations at the University of California, San Diego. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sisterhood, Support, and Solidarity: Female-Founded Social Media Networks Offer Authentic and Creative Space for Women

tumay aslay April 2, 2021

By Karen Gullo

Art by Kseniya Makarova for Seismic Sisters

Author and women’s activist Tiffany Dufu had her own “crew” of peers, a group of women who gave support and advice, and tapped their networks to help her and each other in their professional and personal endeavors. She knew other women wanted crews of their own but, with busy lives, didn’t have the time to network, attend events to find the right people, forge connections, and organize meetings. Dufu saw a business opportunity to raise up women. In 2018 she launched the social networking platform The Cru, which today has matched hundreds of women with their own crew of professional women with whom they collaborate to meet goals, whether it’s getting a promotion, starting a fitness routine, or finishing a personal project.

Tech entrepreneur and startup founder Gina Pell was looking for a new venture after selling her style guide website Splendora in 2011. Pell, a San Francisco native, and business partner Amy Parker, both of whom began creating online communities years before social media networks were a thing, wanted to offer intelligent, edgy, and interesting online content for women. The result was The What List, a weekly email newsletter about their recommendations for everything from books to skincare products. Pell and Parker’s musings tapped into a need among readers for connection and community, and grew into a private women’s online community called The What Women. Today, over 35,000 members in seven cities share stories, exchange ideas, seek advice, and offer support and friendship on a daily basis. Pell and Parker just launched The What Alliance to connect female-focused brands to What List members.

These are just a few examples of a new kind of social media: women-founded social networks aimed specifically at women. They aim to create safe spaces where members can make friends, share stories, network, talk shop, or seek advice about work issues that they don’t feel comfortable talking about with co-workers. Like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, these social networks are a way of connecting online, but the similarities pretty much end there. Most don’t run ads; some are free or charge monthly or annual fees (from $10 a month to $10,000 a year). They are more private, personal, and conversational than the typical social network. A turning point for The What Women was when Pell and Parker posed a question to members: aside from sex, how do you derive pleasure? “By the end of the day we had 1,000 new members,” Pell said. “Women are eager for conversation.”

Jana Messerschmidt, partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Lightspeed Ventures and co-founder of #ANGELS

Female networks are more about community and less about selfies, more about supporting women than tearing people down, say founders. They don’t allow fights over politics, trolling, or computer-generated algorithms that spoon-feed content to users and control what they see on their feed. Because most are exclusively for women, members don’t have to worry that their male colleagues, HR director, or boss are reading their posts.

On traditional ad-supported platforms, with influencers, product placements, troll wars, and an emphasis on persona-building, “there’s so much noise, it’s never ending,” said Naj Austin, founder of Ethel’s Club and Somewhere Good, social media sites for people of color. “It’s a constant deluge of stuff, and we all feel the need to be around it, to be in the loop,” but to what end? It “creates a very weird sense of self,” said Austin. “You become kind of a character. Women feel like they can’t be themselves.”

Mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, with global reach and billions of users, will continue to dominate social networking for the foreseeable future. But with women looking for networks that foster more meaningful connections, social media startups catering to the female perspective have started cropping up all over the place in the last few years. It’s a growing market that should be a wake-up call for social media entrepreneurs and investors.

“It’s all about the programming of content,” said Jana Messerschmidt, partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Lightspeed Ventures and co-founder of #ANGELS, a woman-founded investment collective that provides capital for start-ups founded by women and people of color. “Being on broad mainstream social media networks is not always a soothing experience.” This has driven people to find new vertical platforms with strong sub-communities—Messerschmidt points to apps like Discord for gamers, Loupe for sports trading cards, and Locker Room for sport’s fans as examples of tight knit communities with well programmed content.

In researching this article, we found over 20 platforms for women, and heard about many more being launched or in the works. The platforms are mostly vertical and cater to specific groups: there are networks for working mothers, job seekers, women reentering the workforce, women of color, black women in tech, female engineers, senior executive women, empty-nesters, female entrepreneurs, mothers with small children, women over 50, and much more. They all have a few things in common: strict rules against bullying, bad-mouthing, and put downs. Trolls get the boot. Bringing your authentic self, being supportive and honest, offering help, sharing your experiences, or just listening are what’s required.

Sarah Lacy, Chairman Mom founder

Former tech journalist, author, and entrepreneur Sarah Lacy launched Chairman Mom, a subscription-based ($10 a month) platform for working moms, in 2018 as a place where badass women can get advice about parenting, workplace issues, and everything in between. “I found so much power in being a mother, but never felt comfortable in any online mothers’ group,” said Lacy, a San Francisco resident who has two elementary school-aged children. She wanted a group that was supportive and helpful, not classist or homogenized. A site that celebrates working mothers. “I really needed to build something for women like me,” she said.

Like other founders interviewed for this story, Lacy set out to raise money to start her business, no easy feat for women. The venture capital industry has a massive gender disparity problem. Only 11 percent of VC partners in the U.S. are women. Less than 3 percent of venture capital money invested in startups goes to female founders (yes, you read that right). If your startup’s customers are female, the odds of getting funded shrink significantly, Lacy says. Male VCs who might write a check for a female-founded startup aimed at working women would probably do so based on their perceptions about working women, which is probably way different from the founder’s. “We are not trying to sell anything,” Lacy jokes. “We’re trying to overthrow the patriarchy.”

Naj Austin, Ethel’s Club founder

She initially raised $1.4 million and had an all-women team of developers build software for the platform, where members are invited to respond to two or three curated questions (from members) posted each day. Questions range from how do I ask for a raise to how do I ask if there are guns in the home before letting my child do a playdate at a friend’s home. Lacy says Chairman Mom has thousands of members—most are women but no one is excluded, so there are some men and nonworking women on the platform. Members can join weekly free Zoom group sessions with experts leading discussions about work and parenting issues, or book a one-on-one call for advice with other Chairman Mom members who are career coaches, entrepreneurs, or parenting experts. Lacy raised a total of $3 million since launching, and recently started the Sisterhood Project, a 6-month fee-based virtual course on building community that’s open to Chairman Mom members and nonmembers.

Some female social network startups launched as shared work spaces or private clubs, and had to pivot and go digital because of the pandemic. COVID-19 devastated the economy, and women have lost the most jobs during the pandemic. More than 22 million jobs were lost in spring 2020 when the pandemic began; a little over half have returned. But as of November, women held 5.3 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic, compared to 4.6 million for men. In December alone, women accounted for 100 percent of the 140,000 jobs lost in the U.S., according to the National Women’s Law Center. Women founders of social network platforms report seeing a surge in membership and engagement since the pandemic, as women seek support and connection in online spaces.

Seismic Sisters went in search of creative social media networks founded by women and these rising stars grabbed our attention!

Brooklyn-based Ethel’s Club, a 4,700 square foot social club for people of color with a boutique, kitchen, yoga studio, café, and open meeting space launched in 2019, was thriving with 250 members and thousands on a waiting list when the novel coronavirus ended in-person group gatherings. The physical club shut down. Austin, 29, who had raised $1 million through crowdsourcing and funding from author Roxane Gay and others, knew she had to pivot. She believed that, with workers losing jobs, suffering financial hardship, and experiencing illness and isolation, it was imperative for people of color to have a space to gather and support each other without the harassment and racism they experience on mainstream platforms. Ethel’s Club, named in honor of Austin’s grandmother Ethel Lucas, the matriarch in a tight-knit Black community whose home and kitchen were gathering places, went digital in the spring of 2020 and introduced a $17 monthly subscription (membership fees had been $65 or $195 a month depending on features) that includes thrice-weekly events featuring Black and Brown wellness professionals, caregivers, writers, artists, therapists, teachers, and more. Conversations about systemic racism and police brutality that dominated headlines following George Floyd’s death brought many to the platform, which has a national membership of over 1,000. The majority are millennials, but Gen Zs and a 50+ crowd are also on the platform.

“We have been able to be in the right place at the right time,” said Austin.

She also launched the site Somewhere Good, an offshoot of Ethel’s Club that connects people of color based on their interests and identities. You’re invited into small groups (Austin says it’s like being invited to a very intimate dinner party) and the platform creates a timeline and newsfeed that’s curated from the select communities you decided to join.

The platform has a strict, zero tolerance policy against discrimination and harassment, and limits users’ ability to post on someone’s feed. Members are allowed to follow others only after they’ve had multiple interactions. “This makes it more real,” said Austin. You wouldn’t follow someone around in real life after meeting them once; the policy encourages people to get to know one another.

Somewhere Good also connects members to black-owned businesses and services, from skincare and clothing to podcasts and galleries. The rest of the Internet was not built with people of color in mind, but this platform is, Austin said. “There’s a new urgency to have every aspect of your life reflect your ID,” she said.

New Yorker Mai Ton has been a senior human resources executive in the tech industry for a decade, and is used to being the only woman, and minority, in a room full of white men. She joined Chief, a social club and network for high-level executive women, for one simple reason. “I got tired of never being among women and only being around men,” she said.

Chief, founded by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan, both former senior level executives at e-commerce companies, launched in 2019 with the opening of a private club in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. With a mission to connect and support senior women leaders, Chief filled a void and took off, garnering more than 2,000 members from top U.S. corporations, with several thousand more on a wait list. Only executive women or rising vice presidents can apply to join (or be nominated by existing members). Childers and Kaplan have raised $40 million in venture funding. Membership costs $10,000 a year (members’ employers often pay the fee).

When the pandemic hit, Chief shifted to all online services and events—monthly peer group meetups, leadership workshops, presentations by industry icons, and one-on-one coaching. Members can chat on a community platform with over 40 channels on topics like diversity and women in tech.

“I’ve gained a lot of connections and comradery that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Ton, chief people officer at Kickstarter. “Members are very seasoned women who have made it in their careers and want to help others.” Chief pairs members with a core group of about eight people, led by a professionally-trained coordinator, who meet monthly to discuss work issues and get feedback and advice. Ton said she worked with a coach who helped her get “unstuck” on an issue, and garnered four new clients, whom she met on Chief, for her consulting business. “This is your tribe. It’s like having a small group of advisors,” she said. “We utilize and help each other.”

Alexandria Noel Butler, Sista Circle founder.

While working as a project manager at Airbnb, Alexandria Noel Butler was grappling with how to be more direct with co-workers after receiving feedback from a good friend, who happened to be a white male colleague, about her management style. His advice was: don’t mince words, just be direct and don’t worry that people may not like it. “I said, I can’t do that,” Butler remembers. “I’m a dark-skinned, curly-haired Black women, and I can’t walk into a room and talk to people the way he talks to people.” She had to figure out her own way of being direct, as a Black woman working at a mostly white male company. What she wanted was advice and feedback from other Black women managers. But this is Silicon Valley, which employs very few people of color. A recent study from San Jose State University revealed that ten large tech companies in the valley had no Black women employees (the report didn’t name the companies).

“I had to find someone who looks like me and shares my experience,” said Butler, senior program manager for data and privacy at Twitter. So, in 2017 she started a Facebook group called Sista Circle: Black Women In Tech. It started with a few of her friends who also invited their friends. Butler’s goal was to create a safe space online where Black women in tech can make connections and network, but also discuss the challenges and struggles of being a woman of color in Silicon Valley. Now, almost four years since it launched, Sista Circle has 7,700 members from around the world. It’s a sounding board and gathering place for Black women in tech, with discussions about work, life, relationships, kids, you name it, says Butler, now a senior program manager at Twitter and speaker and advocate for women in tech.

“Sista Circle helped me be more honest and helped me figure out how to have difficult conversations,” she said. “It’s given me permission to be myself. That’s what I hope this community gives other people.”

Karen Gullo is a freelance writer and former Associated Press and Bloomberg News reporter covering technology, law, and public policy. She is currently an analyst and senior media relations specialist at Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in San Francisco.

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