Cyber support network, Phoebe Luckhurst speaks to the CEOs creating a more equal future for everybody

AllBright, and its crowd more creative: the branding is millennial pink, and the clubhouses are bedecked with neon slogan lights (“personal space”) and c o l o u r c o - o rd i n a te d b o o ks h e lve s (catnip for Instagram — The Wing has almost 340,000 followers). Its SoHo outpost in Lower Manhattan has a lactation room and a “Little Wing” for members’ children; the DC clubhouse has a dedicated meditation room.

The Wing was co-founded by Lauren Kassan and Audrey Gelman, an alumna o f H i l l a r y C l i n to n’s p re s i d e n t i a l campaign, who in another life had a recurring cameo in childhood friend Lena Dunham’s Girls. In late 2017 it raised $32 million to pursue its growth; its investors include WeWork. It now has more than 5,000 members — including Dunham and Glossier fo u n d e r E m i l y We i s s . A n n u a l membership costs more than £2,000 a year.

Granted, with such restrictive membership fees, both could be accused of creating a room of one’s own only for a certain demographic of fairly privileged feminists. Wosskow and Jones emphasise that the AllBright runs a 10-week, free digital programme designed to equip women with practical business skills: “Applicants simply need access to a computer and wi-fi.” The Wing has an in-house historian — — be it a law firm, an ad agency or a obviously — called Alexis Coe, who bank — and you’ll find a driven group produces an (excellent) podcast series of eloquent, impassioned female called No Man’s Land, spotlighting agitators communicating via a forgotten and misunderstood women newsletter or a guerrilla WhatsApp in history. It’s free and accessible to group. anyone with a smartphone and a set of “Some industries will need them more headphones. The Wing’s philanthropic than others, but if a women’s network arm works with women’s charities — is a space that enables women to be including Black Girls Code, The Legal honest about their challenges and share A i d S o c i e t y a n d Wo me n’s P r i s o n advice, then what industry wouldn’t Association. benefit from that?” says Ella Horne, one

Nonetheless, cyber networks are of the three founding members of a more democratic spacepace — The Flip [Female Leadership and t h ey ’ re p o p p i n gg u p i n PP u b l i s h i n g ] , a n e w everynewhere.Takeanynynewsletter for women industry in the capitall ththat spotlights industry

The Ministry

Best for: the music biz. A co-working space in SE1 from the team behindnd Ministry of Sound, with a focus on sound production and technology. Turn up the volume in noise-proof production suites, enjoy the cinema and “secret” tequila bar.

Membership from £70 a month (theministry.com)

Cuckooz Nest

Best for: new parents.

This Farringdon club helps entrepreneurs who need childcare, with 21 Ofsted-registered nursery places for newborns tto two-year-olds, and 336 desk spaces, at an extextra £6.08 an hour. MemMembership from £20 an hour (cuckooznest.co.uk)

Maggie & Rose

Best for: kids of CEOS.

There’s a three-month waiting list for these clubs in Kensington, Islington and Chiswick, for good reason. A children’s café, jungle gym and vintage train set make this the perfect spot to park the kids.

Membership from £75 a month (maggieandrose.com) leaders and directs subscribers to interesting events. “Opening up access to the advice of brilliant women is one way to create positive change,” she adds.

Horne, who works in marketing at publishing house Transworld, started The Flip l a s t mo n t h w i t h S o p h i e Christopher and Helena Gonda, who work at Penguin Random House and Transworld respectively. The trio would have been “quietly pleased” if their passion project reached 2,000 people by the end of the year — it’s already got more than 3,000 subscribers.

Advertising women have Bloom UK, whose last event in November took place in a marketing agency in Brick Lane, and included panels on pay, privilege and parental leave, and a keynote speech from high-profile, barnstorming campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez.

The Second Source is journalism’s answer — a network established by female journalists in the turbulent wake of #MeToo, which provides mentorship for female journalists navigating an industry still fuelled on testerone.

Th e C ove n G i rl G a n g , s e t u p by Sapphire Bates, is part network, partbusiness incubator, pitched at fledgling female entrepreneurs. It now has almost 17,000 members on Instagram. Me mb e rs h i p — wh i c h s t a r t s a t a democratic £13 a month — grants you access to online workshops teaching skills including branding and marketing, and there are downloadable business plans and a business book club. The Instagram account deals in snappy memes (Mean Girls) and inspirational quotes. Bates thinks of it as a “sisterhood”.

S i m i l a r l y, p o w e r h o u s e b e a u t y entrepreneur Sharmadean Reid launched Future Girl Corp in 2016, with a mission to “support the next generation of future female CEOs and business leaders”. It hosts panels and workshops on how to write a business plan and how to get your idea in the public eye.

Even Bumble, the “feminist” dating app that was launched in December 2014 as a retort to the misogyny of Tinder, now goes beyond swiping. It has started a business networking platform (Bumble Biz) and has launched a fund for female movie-makers, The Female Film Force, which in August awarded £20,000 to five projects — the films were screened at a showcase in London last month.

“Expanding into business networking was alway part of our overall vision,” explains Bumble’s founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd. “Misogyny and an imbalance in gender dynamics existed we l l b eyo n d d a t i n g , b u t d a t i n g is where we fe l t we c o u l d h a ve the strongest impact at launch. Once our brand, mission and message began gaining traction in the dating space we expanded into friendship and networking within two years. We’re building a digital world with women in mind and that’s never been done before.”

Branches of The Wing have spaces for members’ children and dedicated rooms for meditation