My Career Toolkit: Professional Associations and Networking Groups

Find a community of like-minded professionals that celebrates diversity and inclusion.

Note: Local chapters of professional associations may also provide networking opportunities; public libraries can assist in searching these directories.

Global

Women

• 100 Women in Finance: Professional association for women working in finance, including hedge funds.
• Anita Borg Institute: Networking events, career guidance, research, awards and grants for women in technology.
• Association for Women in Science: Professional organization dedicated to the advancement of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) across all disciplines and employment sectors. Includes briefs on policy issues, leadership and talent development programs, research, publications, and events.
• Ellevate Network: Global networking group for women. A portion of revenue is invested into a mutual fund focusing on companies that advance women.
• Everywoman: Global network (headquartered in London) that advances women in business through networking events, articles on leadership skills, awards, research, and The Navigator – a frequently updated guide for women in reaching full potential.
• IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE): International organization promoting women in engineering and science, offering events, an online networking community, contests and competitions, volunteer opportunities, scholarships and local affinity groups.
• Lean In Circles: Network of small groups that meet regularly to learn about and discuss career growth.
• Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD): Global association providing research training, networking opportunities, career development, and mentoring for women scientists, at all career stages, in the developing world.
• Professional Women’s Network (PWN) Global: International network with a mission to build gender balanced leadership, providing online and in-person networking spaces, mentoring opportunities, entrepreneurship resources, and the latest news in gender balanced leadership.
• Women in Tech Africa: A pan-African association for women working in technology, offering virtual conferences as well as in-person training and networking events.
• Women’s International Networking: WIN Conference: Conferences around the world that inspire and connect women leaders, seeking to build a critical mass of women in decision-making roles. Includes information on upcoming events, speakers, and award recipients.

Race and Ethnicity

• Executive Leadership Council: Global professional association for Black leadership development. Programming includes a corporate board initiative, a women’s leadership forum, and scholarships.

Men

• Men Advocating Real Change (MARC): Catalyst initiative to engage men as leaders in workplace inclusion. MARC’s website offers an online community for discussion, a blog, events, news, and resources on advocating equality.

Australia

Women

• BPW Australia: Community of women working to end gender inequality, providing leadership development programs, advocacy and projects, and regional clubs.
• Chief Executive Women: Network of women in senior leadership, advocating for gender equality in business. Includes a leadership development program, conversation series, a gender diversity toolkit, and scholarships.
• Young Professional Women Australia (YPWA): Peer-to-peer networking community for professional women under 40, offering development and mentoring programs, consulting services, conferences, and networking events.

Race and Ethnicity

• Indigenous Business Australia (IBA): Programs to help indigenous Australians be economically independent, including resources for buying a home, starting and growing a business, and building an investment portfolio.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning & Intersex (LGBTQI)

• Out for Australia: Networking events and a mentoring program for early career LGBTQI professionals.

Canada

Women

• The Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW Canada): Organization offering events, a national convention, and gender equality advocacy resources.
• Canadian Association of Women Executives & Entrepreneurs (CAWEE): National professional organization for Canadian women, offering networking and social events and sponsorship opportunities.
• eWomenNetwork: North American chapter-based professional group, offering networking events and a yearly conference.
• Lean In Canada: Networking events and a blog for professional women in Canada.
• Lilith Professional (LilithPro): Programs for women in Western Canada that combine leadership and personal development with one-to-one mentoring.
• Network of Executive Women (NEW): Events, research, and leadership programs for women in the retail and consumer goods and services industry.
• Women’s Executive Network (WXN): Aimed at women in management and executive roles, offering personal and professional development, including mentoring and networking.

Race and Ethnicity

• Aboriginal Women’s Professional Association (AWPA): Leadership and wellness programs for Aboriginal women in Canada.
• Ascend: Organization for business professionals in the US and Canada. Provides leadership and professional development programs, conferences, mentoring, networking opportunities, and a career center for Pan-Asian leaders.
• Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA): Organization supporting Canada’s black community in entrepreneurship, business, education, and economic development. Offers entrepreneurial development program, an annual convention, and scholarships.
• Cross-cultural Professionals Association of Canada (CPAC): Trains international professionals in gaining recognition, cultural integration, and career advancement in Canada. Provides events, a job list, apprenticeship, certification programs, career counseling, and mentoring.
• Indigenous Professional Association of Canada: Organization advancing Aboriginal leadership in Canada, offering professional development, networking, sponsorship, career opportunities, awards, and success stories.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning & Intersex (LGBTQI)

• exeQutive: Forum for Toronto-based LGBT leaders, holding lectures and networking events and mentoring opportunities.
• Start Proud/Fier Départ: Facilitates the professional development of LGBTQA+ students as they transition from school to career, including an annual conference, awards and recognition, speaker events and networking socials, and volunteer opportunities.

People with Disabilities

• Canadian Association of Professionals with Disabilities: Research, community consultations and outreach, task/action and online discussion groups for Canadian professionals with disabilities.

Europe

• Diversity UK: Think tank researching and promoting diversity and inclusion in the UK. Maintains news feed of recent articles and hosts networking events and roundtables.

Women

• Business in the Community: Gender: Community of professionals engaged in gender equality in the UK, providing news, events, awards, benchmarking reports, and resources that cover issues like the gender pay gap, work-life effectiveness, and inclusive leadership.
• European Network for Women in Leadership (WIL): Network of women in senior management and executive positions, offering The Women Talent Pool Program to develop the next generation of women leaders in Europe.
• European Platform of Women Scientists (EPWS): Professional association that engages in policy debate to increase women’s representation in the sciences. Offers news and policy-related resources.
• Professional Women’s Network (PWN) Global: International network with a mission to build gender balanced leadership, providing online and in-person networking spaces, mentoring opportunities, entrepreneurship resources and the latest news in gender-balanced leadership. Headquarters in Paris.
• WiTIC: European Association for Women in Science, Engineering & Technology: Organization aimed at improving the representation of women in science, engineering, and technology, offering networking events, news, a job board, and statistics.

Race and Ethnicity

• Business in the Community: Race: Community of professionals working for racial equality in the UK, providing news, events, awards, benchmarking reports, and resources that cover issues like ethnicity and STEM and representation in leadership.
• Equality Challenge Unit (ECU): Research and best practices for creating inclusive environments for students and staff among UK and Scottish institutions of higher education. Hosts conferences, workshops, and training sessions.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning & Intersex (LGBTQI)

• L’Autre Cercle: Association for LGBT professionals in France, offering research and volunteer opportunities to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• InterEngineering: Professional network for LGBT engineers and straight allies in London, providing research and data on diversity in the profession as well as news, events, and member profiles.
• Network: Professional association for gay leaders in Switzerland, providing conferences and networking events, research, political advocacy, and regional chapters.
• Stonewall: Workplace resources for LGBTQI professionals in the UK, including the Diversity Champions Programme, Global Workplace Equality Index, career guides, and community events.
• Völklinger Kreis: Association for gay managers, professionals, and entrepreneurs in Germany, with networking events, political lobbying, advocacy of diversity management in Germany, and trade and regional chapters.
• Wirtschaftsweiber: Association for Lesbian professionals and managers in Germany, providing thematic workshops, lectures, and online discussion and networking.
• Workplace Pride: Amsterdam-based organization aiming to shape inclusive workplaces for LGBTI people, providing research, news, and events.
• WyberNet: Network for Lesbian professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs in Switzerland, maintaining an annual meeting and regional groups across the nation and offering national and international networking opportunities.

India

Women

• The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India: Events, publications, and media coverage related to commerce and industry in India. Includes national councils on Social Inclusion, Affirmative Action & Education; Women Entrepreneurship; and Women Foundation.
• CII Indian Women Network: Events, videos, and blog posts on professional learning and development, health and wellbeing, and policy and advocacy for women.
• Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE): Networking events and programs for women entrepreneurs, including business counseling, entrepreneurship development and skills training, certifications, awards, product promotion, and more.
• FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO): Organization promoting women entrepreneurs and professionals through workshops, seminars, conferences, and training programs. Focused initiatives include legal advisory services, entrepreneurial support, and increasing the percentage of women directors. FLO is a wing of the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
• NASSCOM: Diversity & Inclusion Initiative: NASSCOM is the leading professional association for India’s information technology industry. The Diversity & Inclusion initiative includes research, events, and awards relating to gender inclusivity.
• National HRD Network: WoMentoring: National HRD Network is a professional association for human resource development in India. The WoMentoring program builds connections among professional women through conferences, workshops, research, and training sessions.

People with Disabilities

• NASSCOM: Diversity & Inclusion Initiative: NASSCOM is the leading professional association for India’s information technology industry. The Diversity & Inclusion initiative includes research, events, and awards relating to people with disabilities.

United States

Women

• American Business Women’s Association (ABWA): National association of working women from diverse industries. ABWA offers conferences, courses, and other local events that provide a supportive training ground for women.
• Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA): Nonprofit member organization that provides networks, education, research, advocacy, and recognition for the advancement and impact of women in healthcare.
• National Association for Female Executives (NAFE): Member-based division of Working Mother, supplying educational and networking opportunities.
• Network of Executive Women (NEW): Events, research, and leadership programs for women in the consumer goods industry.

Race and Ethnicity

• Ascend: Organization for business professionals in the US and Canada. Provides leadership and professional development programs, conferences, mentoring, networking opportunities, and a career center for Pan-Asian leaders.
• Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA): Network of chapters across the United States for Latinx professionals. The Career Center offers a job search engine.
• Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE): Connects Latinx professionals to a member network, from whom they receive professional development, career guidance, recruitment and volunteer opportunities.
• National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP): Network of chapters for Asian American professionals, offering professional development, community service, networking, leadership training and a Career Center for job searching.
• National Association of Black Accountants (NABA): Leadership training, networking programs, career resources, job searching, and scholarships for black professionals in business-related fields.
• National Black MBA Association: Programs for African-American business students and professionals, including conferences, career coaching, a project management certification, and scholarships.
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): Network of chapters advancing African-American engineers, offering leadership training, professional development activities, mentoring opportunities, career placement services, and community service opportunities.
• Prospanica: The Association of Hispanic Professionals (formerly the National Society of Hispanic MBAs): Member-based group dedicated to increasing the number of Latinx graduating with MBAs, producing a national conference, publications, tuition benefits, and a job search engine.
• Professional Women of Color Network: Professional development and networking for all women of color.
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE): Networking group of Latinx engineers, offering a national conference, leadership development, sponsorship program, and scholarships.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning & Intersex (LGBTQI)

• The National LGBT Bar Association: Network of legal professionals and organizations dedicated to LGBT issues. Scholarships, awards and recognition opportunities are available to law students and legal professionals.
• Out Leadership knows that know that LGBT+ inclusion positively impacts business results, and that including LGBT+ people at the most senior level of executive leadership is powerfully beneficial for business bottom lines. Its OutWOMEN initiative is the first to connect and promote out LGBT+ women in business, globally.
• Pride At Work (AFL-CIO): Nonprofit organization that represents LGBTQ union members and allies, providing a network of chapters across the US, overviews of employment rights topics, and ways to get involved.

People with Disabilities

• Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN): Resources, social media platforms, events, news, and legal information designed to help employers recruit, hire, retain, and advance employees with disabilities.