Citi and LinkedIn launch new professional community for women

New York and Mountain View, Calif. – April 30, 2012 – Citi and LinkedIn today launched Connect: Professional Women’s Network, a forum featuring curated content and moderated discussions to help women become savvier professional networkers and share workplace best practices. It is the first ever LinkedIn Group that will have a LinkedIn Today Special Edition designed for its membership. The LinkedIn Today Special Edition will be updated daily with topical trending news from the more than 300,000 publishers who feed into LinkedIn Today. 

Connect: Professional Women’s Network will be the de facto resource for women who want to stay on top of current news and views about finding mentors, launching start-ups, balancing work and life, making it to the top, finding satisfaction and much more. It features polls, targeted events, and relevant LinkedIn discussions — as well as original and inspirational videos featuring members of the group. The group will also integrate content from across the web including the personal financial education website Women & Co., a service of Citi, which is focused on helping women strengthen their financial futures.

“Citi and LinkedIn have brought together unique assets and expertise that will establish an unparalleled resource for professional women,” said Vanessa Colella, Managing Director and Head of North America Marketing, Citi. “For more than a decade, Citi has been - through Women & Co. - one of the leading providers of content designed to help women strengthen their financial futures. That experience and the insights gleaned about what women strive for, together with LinkedIn’s unique position as a leading professional network, will make for an unprecedented and valuable partnership to the benefit of women in the workplace.”

Daniel Roth, LinkedIn’s executive editor, said: “This is an incredible opportunity to combine the best of LinkedIn — on-the-job insights from members, highly relevant articles and videos from publishers around the world, polls, profiles and more — and use the content to help professional women become better at what they do and what they want to do. Having the experienced team at Women & Co. contributing their valuable lessons will make every professional more knowledgeable.” 

Connect: Professional Women’s Network will provide members with such unique opportunities as:

  • Access: Through the group, women will have the rare opportunity to gain access to other influential women and a wealth of content that will help them achieve professional goals in their careers and, in turn, strengthen their financial futures.
  • Best Practices Sharing: Participants in the group will include high-profile women who have built their careers through successful networking tactics and are ready to share their best practices.
  • Networking: Women who join the group will have the chance to access a broad network of likeminded individuals who can help them achieve success and satisfaction in their own careers by sharing their experiences and forming deep connections that may become the foundation for future business opportunities. 

“We are thrilled to be working with LinkedIn to provide women with a premier online destination to not only increase their network connections but also find the best resources to fully expand their networking capabilities,” said Linda Descano, CFA, President and CEO of Women & Co and Managing Director and Head of Partnerships & Branded Content for North America Marketing, Citi. “The relationship with LinkedIn is an exciting next step for Citi as we continue to provide our customers with the tools and resources to be productive and successful in their professional and personal lives.” 

“Professional women need to work smarter, not harder,” said Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s connection director and best selling author of Girl on Top. “Resources like Connect: Professional Women’s Network take the guesswork out of getting ahead in your career. The group gives professional women the opportunity to not only share key learnings but also to exchange connections that will help them open doors to boardrooms and beyond.”

Together Citi and LinkedIn will conduct customized surveys on a quarterly basis to manage the pulse of the group. Results from those studies will be used to help guide the group discussions and will also impact future enhancements to the community. Professional women will not only have a voice in the group, they’ll also enjoy additional benefits that will expand their networking opportunities and give their career path a boost.

To join the Connect: Professional Women’s Network group, visit: http://lnkd.in/professionalwomen.

About LinkedIn
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. With more than 150 million members worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet. The company has a diversified business model with revenues coming from member subscriptions, marketing solutions and hiring solutions. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, LinkedIn has offices across the globe.