Elpha: A Playbook on How to Build a Closer Inner Circle of Women by Women for Women.
Know how a women-only community is taking networking above & beyond
These days we hear a lot of buzz going around inclusivity and diversity almost everywhere — be it boardrooms, networking events, or workplaces. If we were living in an ideal world, both genders would have an equal playing field based on their potential and desires. But let’s get real! We live in a world where the majority of the industries historically skew heavily male. The male to female participant ratio is often imbalanced in inclusive networking events and professional communities. I support inclusivity and recognise the need to collaboratively challenge patriarchy and the corporate set up from within. I also recognise how some women are too intimidated by co-ed networking environments to participate and are uncomfortable to share their career, projects, work-life and goals with others. This is where exclusive communities like Elpha come into play. It provides women with the perfect opportunity to interact with like-minded people, build relationships, share ideas and gain inspiration.
Story of Elpha
Cadran Cowansage, CEO of Elpha, was previously a former engineering lead at Y Combinator. Cadran began Elpha as Leap to build an online network of women in tech to provide each other with advice and resources. She recognized a massive opportunity that lies in building a resourceful women-oriented community. Later when she met Kuan via Leap, she decided to spearhead Leap out of YC into its own independent company.
I joined Elpha in 2018 when it was Leap. Since then, there has been no turning back. I am a part of other women communities as well but there is something about Elpha that keeps me hooked. Saying that my day begins and ends with Elpha, won’t be a lie!
After being a part of Elpha for more than five months, I can offer five reasons how Elpha is actually empowering the women communities and making them stronger day by day.
- Communication & Engagement
They make an effort to keep the members engaged. How a group is able to communicate is critical to its ability to be successful. Communities don’t build themselves magically and a lot of effort goes into building them. Most women communities fail to make a mark because the founders fail to keep the members involved and engaged. My favorite engagement activity is when Elpha features successful women from a variety of fields every week. It provides the members with an opportunity to have an AMA session with them and help us to stay informed about the big-picture issues. Listening to the amazing stories of overcome challenges and learned lessons from other successful women is a huge motivator. Authentic interactive sessions like these not only build up our knowledge base, but we also benefit from peer-group learning. - Diverse & Inclusive
Women empowerment can only happen when we focus on everyone. Elpha is a pool of women coming from different backgrounds, countries, cultures, age brackets, skills and professions. We all have a unique story and the Elpha community celebrates it. We discuss everything from how to streamline our wardrobes to reinvent ourselves after being out of the workplace to raise kids. It’s amazing what women can learn from one another when we reach across professional, generational, and cultural divides. It also gives an opportunity for you to get honest feedback in a thoughtful and insightful way. - Unofficial Networking Opportunities & Focus Groups
Elpha brings an opportunity to the members to meet outside the formally scheduled events, offline and online, and in fact, encourages you to build your own focus groups. You can have your own small groups and meet monthly to set goals and take your businesses to the next level. I am a member of two such groups and we have our monthly zoom meetup to talk about our progress, difficulties, and goals. It is not just about inspiration and learning from each other, it is about females finding their tribe, making authentic connections and discovering the power of women supporting women. I have found an amazing tribe of like-minded women on Elpha who boost my mood, help me believe in my dreams, let me vent in a safe environment, and give perspective to the decisions and challenges ahead. - Find Job Leads, Business Opportunities, Mentors & Much More
Since Elpha is so diverse & inclusive, it allows members to tap into new networks to develop helpful contacts and get professional referrals. The strong and welcoming networking foundation in members opens many doors for others to find suitable jobs, genuine business leads, investors, co-founders, speakers for an event, and mentors to guide us. These ladies have been in our shoes before and support us to take the leap forward. - Builds Confidence & Self-esteem
A lot of women have particular difficulty in developing self-confidence. We don’t give enough credit to ourselves. I love to engage in posts letting us reflect on past wins and draw lessons from failures. Sharing your stories with other members and surrounding yourself with the right people genuinely cheering you on, helps build a lot of confidence. Additionally, you’ll learn how to combat sexism in your professional and personal life. You can see a lot of women sharing strategies for combatting it. It’s also a place where we can simply ask: “This is what happened to me — do you think it’s sexist?” And the community always thinks about the issue constructively.
Elpha is my go-to place for when I have some serious dilemma at work, need to seek lifestyle advise, or have a casual candid chat with my Elpha women. Women networks are continuing to grow in the past decade. I think the biggest power of Elpha is that there is no “girl power” chants and no male-bashing, making us more confident and balanced. The discussions on the forum are focused on a lifestyle and work-balance which is missing in some of the communities. There are so many amazing women communities offline and online that are doing great work in uplifting women status and giving them a safe space to talk, but I have never recommended any community as strong as I recommend Elpha 🙌🏼
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About me: My name is Sheenam and I run an ed-tech startup called CoCampus. It is a co-learning community for makers. I focus on lean startup, company culture, and traditional education disruption. I advocate feminism, environment issues, and free espresso refills.
Are you making something or have a story to share? Let’s talk! ☕️
