Create a support network that empowers women to lead
Anything is possible when women come together to share their experiences, build leadership skills, and cheer each other on. Lean In Circles provide women in your organization with the peer mentorship and support they need to advance.
Help women go further, together
For many women, finding connection and support at work is a major challenge. About 20% of women say they’re often the only woman in the room at work. And since most senior leaders are men, women have less access to mentors, sponsors, and role models who can relate to their experiences. For women of color and women with other marginalized identities, it’s even harder to find support to navigate challenges or chart a unique career path.
How Circles can help
Lean In Circles create a space where women can come together in small groups across roles and levels to get peer-to-peer mentorship, connect with each other, recognize and combat gender bias, and build leadership skills.
Circles drive real change
Thousands of women tell us their Circle has helped them reach and exceed their career goals. Women in Circles are more likely to:
Lean into leadership
73% of women in Circles feel equipped to be better leaders as a result of being part of a Circle
Embrace new challenges
Two-thirds of women in Circles say they’ve taken on a new challenge with the support of their Circle
Make positive change
85% of women in Circles credit their Circle with a positive change in their lives
Learn how to bring Lean In Circles to your company
Join members of the Lean In team for a free webinar to learn more about the impact you can make with Circles. Plus, you’ll walk away with everything you need to set your Circles up for success.
Register for an upcoming trainingCan’t make it? Sign up to receive everything you need to bring Lean In Circles to your organization and stay up to date on Lean In’s company programs.
How Circles work
Small groups built to scale
Circles typically include 8-12 women, and often form around shared identities and experiences. Many companies integrate Circles as part of existing Employee Resource Groups or other learning and development initiatives as a way to engage employees at scale.
Virtual or in-person meetings
Circles usually meet once a month for 60 to 90 minutes, either in-person or virtually. Virtual meetings can be a powerful way for women to connect and grow their networks across geographic lines—especially as many companies continue to work remotely.
Employee led
Lean In’s Circles resource library makes it easy for employees at any level to lead a Circle. This model empowers women in your organization to make Circles their own and lays the foundation for a scalable program that engages women across roles, backgrounds, and identities.
Explore the Circles
resource library
Our education library provides Circle leaders with everything they need to facilitate more than two years’ worth of Circle meetings—and it’s completely free.
See all resources
Free career development resources
Expert advice on navigating gender bias, managing work-life balance, and more—all designed to help women overcome barriers
and advance their careers.
Bringing Circles to your company is easy
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Comprehensive start-up kit
The Circles start-up kit provides everything you need to launch and grow your program, including email templates to get your team excited, a kick-off presentation and Circle leader training guide, and best practices for scaling Circles to reach more employees.
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Central platform to manage your Circles Program
We provide a centralized platform to help you track your Circles program via a dedicated web page for your company where employees across any of your global offices can find a Circle to join.
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No cost to your team
We believe all companies, regardless of size or budget, should have the tools they need to advance women and create an equal and inclusive workplace—so we offer all of our resources and programming for free.
You’re in good company
We’ve helped hundreds of leaders create organizations where everyone is empowered and supported. Companies of all sizes use our programs to achieve real, measurable DEI results.
Hear what companies have to say
“My Circle is a space where I can be proud of my accomplishments without coming across as bragging, [and] I can also talk about my kids, all at the same time. You have a unique space that doesn’t exist anywhere else . . . You can be fully you.”
Ready to bring Circles to your organization?
We make it easy to get started. There are three ways to get Circles started.
Planning to launch with 50 or more Circles? Contact our team for hands-on guidance and support.
