How Do I Start a Women's Group at Work?

With the amount of gender bias that still exists in the workplace, finding community among fellow women colleagues can be an important key to advancing your career. While forming individual office friendships can certainly help, creating a formal women’s group that meets regularly to trade advice and build long-term mentoring relationships has proven to be even more beneficial.

One way to do this is with Lean In Circles, which are free peer mentorship groups that meet regularly and support each other’s career goals. There are tens of thousands of active Lean In Circles in more than 180 countries.

“We’ve been collecting data on the effectiveness of Lean In Circles for years and almost every woman in a Circle reports a positive outcome,” says Mary Noble-Tolla, Head of Education at Lean In, about Lean In’s peer lead group program.

If your workplace doesn’t already have a formal, company-sponsored women’s group, there are just a few things you need to start your own, through a research-backed program like Circles, or independently.

Key Takeaways

• Women’s groups are valuable types of professional networking that have been proven to aid in career development and advancement for women.
• Some companies have formal women’s employee resource groups (ERG) which can use company time, tools, space, and, often, funding.
• Women’s groups should have at least eight members and at least one leader who can handle admin and logistics.
• Setting a regular meeting schedule in advance and having clear agendas outlined for each gathering are two of the biggest ways to ensure your women’s group’s success.

Why are women’s groups at work important?

There are many proven benefits to women’s groups at work, all related to the importance of building community. According to Lean In’s 2025 Women in the Workplace report, women are far less likely than men to have a sponsor, which is a senior-level person who is willing to advocate for you in discussions regarding work performance and career advancement. Women’s resource groups, when open to all levels of employees, could provide opportunities to build those sponsorship relationships organically.

Studies have found that even peer mentorship can be beneficial to a person’s career. “This year, we started asking women in our Lean In Circles if they’d had a promotion in the last year,” Noble-Tolla says. “We found that women in Circles are getting promoted at over twice the rate of the general population [of women].”

Women’s groups also help you set career goals and then hold yourself accountable to taking the steps needed to get there. For example: At the end of every Lean In Circle meeting, there’s an agenda item called One Action, where members of the group commit to one concrete action they’ll take before the next meeting. This could be something big (like asking your manager for a meeting to discuss their top three goals for the rest of the year) or small (like identifying one person you can reach out to the next time you’re feeling stressed about work). “When you commit with a group of women who know you to do something, you are much more likely to end up doing it,” Noble-Tolla says.

Beyond all the formal advice and mentorship, it’s just encouraging to have a group of people you know are rooting for you. Circle members have told LeanIn.org researchers that “having a group of women who are cheering on your career and troubleshooting and problem solving with you is really, really helpful,” Noble-Tolla says.

What are different types of women’s groups?

Many large companies have women-focused employee resource groups (ERG), which are formal groups that have been approved by the company. This approval is required so the group can use company time, communication channels (like a company Slack or emails), space, and, sometimes funding. These groups are voluntary, but, legally, must be open to all employees who want to join, regardless of their identity.

There are also plenty of non-company-sponsored women’s groups: These groups might have to meet outside of the office and communicate using personal contact information, but otherwise have the potential to provide the same types of professional community building and career education as a formal ERG. Since these are non-company-sponsored, membership would be at the discretion of the group.

Starting a Lean In Circle is one way to create a peer-lead women’s group. When you register your Circle, you’ll get access to free leader training, resources to help guide meeting agendas, and a community of other Circle leaders across the country. Lean In also works directly with companies to offer Circles to all employees, at scale – you can bring this option to your manager of your company’s human resources department.

How do I start a women’s group at work?

Find at least 8 other women who want to join

“When you have a small group, it’s hard to keep the momentum going,” Noble-Tolla says. With eight people or more, chances are at least a handful can show up to every meeting.

Really large circles are OK too, although Noble-Tolla notes that when Lean In Circles hit 30 or more members, they tend to branch off into two separate, smaller groups.

Identify the group’s leaders

These groups need leaders to handle setting the dates and agenda, and to ensure the group has productive, beneficial sessions when they meet. Research has found that the most successful groups share leadership between two people, or have one primary leader and one to three assistant leaders who can help with admin and logistics.

Set a regular meeting schedule

Consistency will be key for the success of these groups. “Meet every month to build skills that help you advance,” Noble-Tolla says. Stick to a regular day and time — like 6:30 p.m. on the last Thursday of every month — and have members mark those dates in their calendars through the end of the year at the first meeting they attend.

Set an agenda

Without an agenda, it’s easy for meetings to stray into unproductive territory. It’s OK to have a few minutes of catching up and venting about work, but ultimately the focus should be growing professional skills, group bonding, sharing experiences, and validating (and troubleshooting, when needed) one another’s experiences, Noble-Tolla says.

If you’re not sure how to get started, community platform Lean In Connect has a whole library of free resources — including videos, relevant research, and sample meeting agendas — you can pull from. “We have a ton of different problem solving guides that people can use in groups to talk about navigating bias, leadership skills, management skills, and so many other skills, all tailored for women to use,” Noble-Tolla says.

“We have lots of high quality content online, which is written by our in-house experts and Stanford professors,” Noble-Tolla says. “It’s based on absolutely watertight research on how women can advance.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need my company’s permission to start a women’s group at work?

If you want to start a company-sponsored employee resource group (ERG), you’ll need company approval. You do not need your company’s permission to start a peer-led group that meets outside of the workplace.

What’s the ideal size for a women’s group?

A women’s group should have at least eight members. They can get much larger, although Lean In Circles often break into two smaller groups once they hit 30 members.

How often should my women’s group meet, and what should we talk about?

Monthly meetings are a good cadence. Leaders of the group should set an agenda that focuses on specific aspects of career advancement for women. Lean In Connect has a free library of sample agendas, as well as complementary videos and research to pull from.

Does starting a women’s group actually make a difference?

Yes. Research has found that peer mentorship can be beneficial to a person’s career, and these relationships tend to last longer than most other types of mentoring relationships. Women in Lean In Circles get promoted at twice the rate of the general population of women.