Just as many women start careers as men. Yet only 14 percent of U.S. women make it to the top as corporate executives.

WomenLEAD is a revolutionary platform that does what LinkedIn, Mightybell, and other professional networks do not. Whether you are a woman seeking mentorship, a person who mentors women, or simply someone who wants to help individual women achieve career success, you can help by supporting WomenLEAD.

The WomenLEAD platform will have several core functions:

• You will be able to create a “personal advisory board” of mentors, engaging with them individually or as a group in a highly professional, richly engaged, closed network. Unlike on existing social networks, only your personal advisory board will know your issues of concerns it is a safe space to share information.

• If you have a personal advisory board you will be able to bring them on to your closed personal advisory board and use the platform as a communication tool.

• If you are a mentor, you will be able to support other women in more meaningful ways. You can keep track of your communication, connect them to other resources, and see where they end up as a result of your mentorship.

• All members will be able to create and join private communities of interest. (Communities by industry, by function/title, and communities of specific concern)

• Members can access all content in the reference library, which will feature training videos, articles, and other materials relevant specifically to women.

Founder Ilene Fischer is a former chemical engineer who has spent many years helping women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to succeed. She found that having a “personal advisory board” of mentors helped women to exponentially accelerate their personal development.

The research backs this up. No single mentor can give you all the support you need to succeed. WomenLEAD will help level the playing field.

You, your mentors, and your mentees. Corporate clients who want to retain and develop women as leaders will also be able to purchase subscriptions for their company and set up company pages to facilitate mentorship.

Good question! We actually need more than $20,000 to launch the platform. Your support will help us develop the prototype. It will also demonstrate to companies and angel investors that there is broad interest in a platform that helps women develop their full leadership potential.

Also, Women LEAD Inc is a benefit corporation -- a new kind of company that values both profit and social responsibility. We are driven by our mission to revolutionize mentorship for women in all career paths.

Your donation will help us pay developers, architects, and user experience professionals so that we can create the ideal interface for WomenLEAD.

Your contribution will help thousands of women achieve career success. Research shows that women’s leadership leads to economic growth and opportunity for everyone.

At $50 will receive Premium membership which includes all of the learning videos, participation in all open communities,the use of the matching algorithm and your ability to create your "Personal Advsory Board"

In additon to the other awards that are listed here, we are offering a download of our personal advisory board template to everyone who donates at least $10. You can start using the template immediately to design your personal advisory board by looking at your long and short term goals and identifying the qualities you need from advisors to meet those goals.

• Ilene Fischer is a leadership development guru with decades of experience supporting women's professional development. She was previously the Executive Director of WEST, a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop women leaders in science, engineering, and technology. Under her leadership, the program expanded to support executive women and now offers programs throughout the state of Massachusetts. She has been a mentor for women through various formal programs for over 10 years. Ilene credits her personal advisory board with much of her own success. She considers WomenLEAD her life's work.
• Amrita Aviyente is a user experience expert with a passion for women's leadership. She has almost ten years of experience as a software engineer and developer. She has studied graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design and is currently earning her master's in Human Factors in Information Design at Boston's Bentley University. She blogs about technology and women's issues at www.amritaaviyente.com.
• Gretchen Fox is a social media expert who was recently named a "Leading Woman in Social Engagement" by Billboard magazine. She has 15 years of successful multimedia and mass communication expertise. She was previously Vice President of Social Media for Live Nation and Ticketmaster and now runs her own social business strategy company, grtchnfx.
• Jorge Malibran is a sales expert who has worked for Amazon, IBM, Banco Santander, and several other European companies. He is currently finishing his master's in Management Studies at MIT's world-renowned Sloan School of Management.
• Bob Fischer is a technology and organization management consultant with over 35 years in the technology industry. He is a trainer and coach in Agile project management, helping enterprises manage complex product development and cultural change. He has previously been a Vice President at Fidelity Investments and is currently a Chairman of the Board of The Partnership for Successful Living, a nonprofit organization. He is Principal Consultant at BigVisible Solutions.

Join WomenLEAD to revolutionize mentorship as we know it!