International Women’s Day: Community. Connection. Intros.

A Note from the Editor (and a Launch)

🗣️ “Are you doing anything for International Women’s Day this year?” 

At Femtech Insider we understandably get this question a lot and the truth is: I dread it. As a leading voice covering women’s health innovation, many look to us for insights, for thought leadership, for inspiration and… well… sometimes also for hope that we can actually make better care for women and other underserved groups a reality. 

Our role in this ecosystem is a privilege, and it also comes with a lot of responsibility. On special occasions like International Women’s Day I always feel a lot of pressure. Pressure to say the right thing, to create something meaningful, to not let our community down. What can we contribute? What should be contribute? I wonder, I think and then we often end up “skipping it” and quietly hoping that no one will notice, because nothing feels quite appropriate or impactful enough.

At Femtech Insider we’ve always built for impact and adding yet another social media post or blog post to the conversation “just to do something” never really felt quite “on brand” for us. Especially in times like these when women are giving birth in field hospitals in Ukraine, funding for female founders is dropping and mental health among women is at an all time low sending out a cheerful “Happy International Women’s Day!” message doesn’t feel quite right to me.

So what’s one gonna do? 🤔

Our mission at Femtech Insider has always been to serve the women’s health innovation community in meaningful ways. And over the past 2.5 years more opportunity for connection between our members has been a regular request. 

I’ve always been hesitant to set up yet another community platform like a Slack channel or similar. Do we really need another space that requires presence and attention, creates more work and doesn’t quite fit into day to day business routines? Community and connection are incredibly important. I get it. But I also always felt strongly that we shouldn’t build something just to “tick a box”.

Making new connections should be easy, fun, meaningful and fit into busy schedules. And the good news is: I think we finally found a way to make this happen for our community. So today I’m excited to introduce you to Intros by Femtech Insider.

🤝 Introducing Intros by Femtech Insider 

Communities are about people, not content. And unfortunately some community platforms out there today tend to miss the mark on this. They connect you to other people’s content, but not necessarily to other people who share your interests.

With Intros by Femtech Insider we’re here to change this in our community. We have partnered with Intros to enable high-quality, personalized intros between our members (YOU!) at scale, so you can meet others in the Femtech Insider ecosystem, exchange notes, do business together or simply have a chat with a fellow femtech enthusiast on your own time and on your own terms.

😍 Sound good? Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up for Intros by Femtech Insider
2. Answer a couple of questions about your interests
3. Choose how often you’d like to be connected with another Femtech Insider member (monthly, weekly, bi-weekly)
4. Intros does its magic, you receive personalized introductions to your inbox and can opt-out anytime

Ready to give it a go?

Whether you’ll join us on Intros or not: THANK YOU for being part of the Femtech Insider community and working towards a better future for all not just today on International Women’s Day, but on every day of the year. 🙏

Warmly,

Kathrin Folkendt
Founder, Femtech Insider


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