WomenX: Investing in the Future of Women

Women are 50% of the population. Yet, we do not represent 50% of the  leaders making key decisions and solving today’s complex problems. Why? Most of our current institutions are designed for men. As young as elementary school, boys speak up more than girls. They then continue to be supported by others in power (usually men) throughout their lives. And as a result, men are able to cultivate the leadership “X factor” — exceptional qualities that allow them to rise to prominence in corporations, government, politics, and more. They engage in lifelong learning with mentorship, guidance, and promotion from one another. 

WomenX will provide a community of women from various backgrounds and industries, who will learn together in classroom settings that are affordable, flexible, and designed to encourage the growth that men receive embedded in the system. We invest in the future of women, one class at a time. 

Men are valued for their potential, while women are valued for their credentials. More often, employers promote men based not on their proven track records, but rather what they are expected to achieve. Women do not receive that same benefit of expectation. 

Instead, women require a demonstrated history of success. Janet Napolitano reported in ForbesWomen that “today a woman with a bachelor’s degree earns roughly the same as a man with an associate’s degree, and the same holds for women with master’s degrees compared to men with bachelor’s degrees and for each successive level of educational attainment.”

And, men have informal learning experiences in virtually every facet of life.  Men are more likely to support other men through informal streams. A study found that 60% of male mentors are uncomfortable associating with women in common work activities like mentorship, working along, or even socializing outside of work. Yet these settings create opportunity for men (and women) when available. 

The WomenX community will provide women with education to grow personally and professional within a supportive network that allows them to emulate the relationship building and informal learning that men receive in our current structures.  

The goal is to develop an affordable, easily accessible, higher education learning community that focuses on the learner. 

We currently offer two free courses that provide women a pathway to further their knowledge on issues that impact them.

Our two flagship courses, Rebranding Women in the Workplace and the Science of HerHealth, guide students to think critically, giving them the skills to pursue their individual education and professional goals.

Generally, courses are based on free offerings from nationally accredited institutions to ensure an academic foothold. Then, they are modified and supplemented to meet the current needs of our students. Coursework is completed mostly online with weekly video classroom discussion (no larger than 7 students at a time). 

The courses culminate with a Capstone project where students demonstrate their knowledge by completing an industry related project. 

Rebranding was built on Edx and Coursera curriculum, was enhanced with articles by women of color (who are underrepresented in the original frameworks), and supplemented with podcasts like Hidden Brain, and TedX talks, all focused on the struggles modern women face at work. For the Capstone project, students have selected a business and will examine the marketing efforts used and the effectiveness of those efforts. 

WomenX is designed for all adult individuals who identify as women (including transgender and nonbinary persons) with an intellectual curiosity who seek a supportive community of women for personal and professional advancement. Primarily, students seek knowledge and skills that will help them advance in their current career, transition into new fields, increase earning potential, and more.

One student, a black woman in our second cohort, wanted to learn more about the history of women in the workplace. Specifically, she wanted to examine intersectionality from an academic rather experiential viewpoint. Coincidentally, race became an important topic during her time in class, and she expressed how valuable the coursework was in helping her when her employers asked her to discuss diversity at their tech company. 

Our past students have comprised women ages 23-50, based in CA, NY, Boston, Florida, and a number of recent immigrants to the US from Japan, China, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Chile.  99% of WomenX students are women of color. We intentionally curate each cohort of students to be diverse in experience and background.

The Solve Challenge for girls and women is aimed at providing opportunities for women throughout their learning journey. WomenX is designed to focus on women's continued learning journey to support what women lack in traditional spaces.

• Women X will women participating in formal and informal learning and training.

• WomenX will reduce the barriers that prevent women from reaching key milestones and developing skills necessary to thrive corporate America, politics, government, and other areas. 

• At its core, WomenX promotes gender-inclusive and gender-responsive education for everyone, including gender non-binary and transgender learners.

WomenX will reshape the way adult women learn. Specifically, the WomenX solution allows women to find a space where courses are offered to help women think deeply on important issues, and help them develop practical and professional skills to achieve success. WomenX students intellectually engage on topics that actually impact them, from women instructors, with women peers, in a setting suited for their needs. 

Women are seeking education in high numbers, often outnumbering men in their classes — they want to learn. But, something is missing. Women and their histories and needs are not the focus of most of the institutions. WomenX seeks to change that. 

Women make up the highest users of online education, in some instances women make up 70% of those enrolled in virtual courses. This can be explained in part because women often need flexibility in learning environments given their circumstances like working demanding hours, and taking a disproportionate share of the housework and child rearing responsibilities. Women need a solution for learning that is flexible. The pandemic has shown just how much virtual learning can be useful in our ever changing world, and even more people have become familiar with the possibilities of existing technology.

When women receive intensive support and focused education to fit their needs, they are better able to self-advocate. And this is how we make a difference in their lives, their communities, and the world. That’s how we uniquely invest in the future of women. 

Currently, WomenX students have basic equipment needed to participate in the community (including smart phones, tablets, and computers). We utilize Zoom for classes, and email, WhatsApp, and Marco Polo to stay connected outside of the classroom. Our classes also often incorporate public learning platforms such Coursera and Edx. 

Once we have identified the core features needed for our learning platform we will utilize an existing learning platform (or create a new platform if needed) to provide a central location for course materials and discussion. For instance, LearnCube has a virtual classroom, whiteboard, easy access to course materials, and more. 

In the future, we hope to include more women by providing scholarships for devices such as computers and tablets for those who do not own such equipment and cannot afford to purchase on their own.

We have had success utilizing Coursersa, Edx, Zoom, Marco Polo, and Whatsapp with the pilot cohorts. Our zoom classes meet with near 100% attendance each week. If a student cannot attend, we record each class for makeup review. Students have access to the assignments via email and Coursera/Edx, as applicable. 

Zoom allows instructors and students to engage in intimate discussion and present information through shared screens. Again, because of the pandemic, more women are becoming familiar with this technology.

Throughout the course there are deep learning occurring in Whatsapp or Marco Polo. For instance, as we discussed marketing techniques  students shared articles about Matel/Barbies effort to rebrand itself as more inclusive of different figures, ethnicities, and abilities. Some women find it easier to type than text, or different circumstances call for types of response. Therefore, students vary between using Marco Polo videos and Whatsapp text. 

Observing both sets of classes unfold, I witnessed first-hand that even on a virtual platform, women in the community forge real and lasting bonds. Many of them have collaborated on personal projects. 

In class, students share incredibly personal aspects of their lives in various assignments, and support each other through difficult conversations. 

The WomenX community events including over 100 people so far have helped to create experiences that women in different cohorts and outside of the classroom can enjoy together, no matter where they are located in the country (and eventually as we expand, the world). 

WomenX invests in women by supporting their potential. When women have community support and continued education, they can cultivate an X-factor that will help them develop into leaders and innovators in society. 

When women receive intensive support and focused education to fit their needs, they are better able to self-advocate. And this is how we make a difference in their lives, their communities, and the world. That’s how we uniquely invest in the future of women. 

Students are supported by classmates to plan the next stages of their careers, deeply learn topics that will help them in their professions, and network with one another for opportunities. 

Over the past 2 years, WomenX has run 3 cohorts, 6 individual courses, engaging 20 women in our learning community.  Currently, we are running one rebranding course, with 6 students. These students are all women of color with diverse backgrounds.

Additional Education Opportunities: We are currently developing other educational opportunities such as masterclasses, seminars, weekend workshops and special events.

WomenX Community

In addition to the coursework, WomenX is building an online learning community.  Our goal is to expand knowledge of women and women’s issues in education, business and society. 

Summary of Metrics

-20 students have completed coursework with WomenX

-350 women have engaged with the organization via interest in learning more and receiving monthly newsletter

-Social community is growing ever day, currently have 400 followers on our FB and IG.

-Profiled over 350 women (hidden treasures).

Over the next 5 years with proper funding, WomenX expects to engage a total of 3000 students in our core course offering and engage over 50,000 women in our other educational programming both online and in person.

WomenX will continue to grow our course offerings and our learning community.  To do so, we plan to target:

Corporations: Partner with corporations and develop content relative to their workforce.  With this model, the corporations will fund the effort and we will work with their Human Resources to tailor arterial directly relevant to their needs.  We would also work with corporations to build content for prospective employees.  This content would then allow these students to achieve a degree relevant to the company’s needs.  This could serve as a stepping stone to employment at that company.  We hope that the degree achieved would have a brand value accepted in the broader marketplace.

Universities: We working to partner with universities to develop curriculum for a woman-only education.  We are targeting both coed and women-only colleges with this effort.  This effort will lead to degree credits at the participating schools.  We also hope that these credits would be widely accepted across the university spectrum.

Women Communities: There are a number of women only co-working spaces that are looking to add more online opportunities for women to connect and develop deeper relationships. These include the Wing, The Riveter and Ellevate to name a view. 

Our current greatest barrier is funding. We need to secure grant funding and other donations so that the program can be supported and sustained by a source other than its founder. Our second greatest barrier is the ability to build a team and meet the needs we’re seeing because of the pandemic. We need to hire and pay staff so that we can scale.

We plan to overcome these barriers through grant applications and private donors. We have raised approximately $30,000 in private donations and plan to continue those fundraising efforts. 

The CEO, Mary Azzarto Ciampa works with the Director of Operations, Calandra Ferguson. There are three members on the Board of Directors. 

Mary Azzarto Ciampa, WomenX Founder and CEO, is a serial entrepreneur. 

Mary brings her greatest strengths, curiosity, creativity and bravery to every aspect of her life whether it is finding new opportunities for a struggling business or asking questions and researching topics that she has yet to learn. Being dyslexic, she understands deeply that nothing great can be accomplished without hard work and collaboration with a great team. 

Her entrepreneurial spirit drove her to start a software company, Thinkmap during the dotcom era. 

She founded a bilingual charter school, HoLa, in Hoboken NJ. 

She was an active Board member to a startup nonprofit, Bpeace that worked with women in post conflict countries, including Rwanda and Afghanistan. Specifically she led the initiative to grow their programs in El Salvador and Guatemala, now one of their most successful programs.

She currently serves on the Board of the Boston Museum of Science and the Advisory Board of Berklee College of Music's Online School.

Mary is also a triathlete completing multiple races including the Ironman Mt. Tremblant in 2013.

Calandra Ferguson is the Director of Operations. She participated in the first WomenX class in 2018. Over her career she has worked at District Attorney’s offices and as a paralegal in the music licensing department of top record labels. 

Her creativity, legal knowledge and deep understanding of student needs makes her a valued partner to the CEO.

Our board of directors is all women with experience in law, tech, and marketing. 

We are in early conversations with Northeastern University, and are hoping to offer our program to their students for credit; or, to have our course count toward credit at Northeastern.

We are the tesla of education, a higher education solution that serves today’s adult woman today and into the future. Given all that we know about the needs of students today along with the advanced technology available to people around the world, we can provide a  flexible curriculum that meets the needs of students today and into the future at a fraction of the price of today’s education. Our solution does not require extensive investments in physical buildings and campuses enabling us to offer our education solutions at a low cost to students that will allow them to focus on their deep learning and advancing in their career. Our ultimate goal is to remove all the barriers for women to gain the knowledge they need to be best in their field and create a life full of wealth.

We are currently making efforts to secure grant funding, individual donors, as well as charge reasonable tuition to students who can afford it once credit-bearing courses have been created.

WomenX is looking for growth opportunities and a support system / network of thinkers that can help expedite this growth so that more women can benefit from our program.

We are currently exploring university partnerships and partnerships with other women’s organizations. We’d also like to forge corporate partnerships in order to meet the educational needs of their female employees.  

As a women-led, women-specific program, WomenX would use the prize to scale our organization.

We would use this prize to help connect women to fields in STEM, as well as build out our curriculum in this subject area.