Perhaps 20th century author Virginia Woolf was partly thinking of modern-day women in tech when she penned the phrase, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
The idea of needing space and a salary to thrive should resonate with many women across the tech industry. And while it may be easy enough to account for the financial aspect of this notion, finding space isn’t always simple.
That’s why many companies have invested in creating communities for women to build meaningful relationships, learn from one another and empower one another to grow and thrive. For instance, at InStride, women have the opportunity to discuss their career journeys with each other through the company’s Women at InStride Network. Meanwhile, at Strive Health, the Parents and Caregivers employee resource group enables members to navigate the challenges of caring for loved ones alongside their peers.
Below, women leaders at five companies describe how their organizations empower women through powerful cultural initiatives and supportive benefits packages.
PatientPoint’s platform enables patients, healthcare providers and life sciences companies to access information needed to make care decisions.
What does PatientPoint do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
In 2022, PatientPoint’s DEI Council launched the Women’s Professional Network ERG to advance women in the company. Its mission focuses on career advancement, mutual support through mentoring and job shadowing, and creating development opportunities. Led by senior women leaders, the network prioritizes relevant programming, mentoring, access to role models and networking. Key achievements include launching an internal mentorship program and increasing the visibility of women leaders through speaking engagements and educational panels.
In 2023, PatientPoint partnered with Gotara, a global career growth platform for STEM+ talent, in an effort to support women in STEM careers. Gotara provides scalable content, an expert community and an AI and machine learning platform to help women navigate career hurdles and advance. The first cohort had a 100 percent completion rate and top ratings for effectiveness. The second cohort has been launched, continuing PatientPoint’s commitment to investing in women’s careers.
How does PatientPoint take extra steps to support women’s health?
At PatientPoint, we prioritize our teammates’ well-being, recognizing them as our most valuable asset. This commitment is reflected in our comprehensive and affordable benefits package, which was designed with guiding principles to support teammates and their families. Our offerings emphasize unique and differentiated support, particularly in mental health and wellness, alongside market-competitive benefits.
Understanding the challenges faced by new parents, we provide 12 weeks of fully paid leave for birthing mothers and four-week paternity leave. This allows parents to focus on their new additions without financial stress. Additionally, our benefits package includes support for mental health, offering resources to ensure teammates have the necessary support for their well-being. By focusing on these areas, PatientPoint aims to create a supportive environment that promotes overall health and well-being for all teammates.
“PatientPoint aims to create a supportive environment that promotes overall health and well-being for all teammates.”
How does PatientPoint offer flexibility or support for employees who are caregivers at home?
PatientPoint recognizes the significant responsibilities that many teammates, especially women, shoulder in terms of household and childcare duties. To support this, we offer six weeks of time off per year for all employees, which is prorated based on the date of hire. Additionally, employees have the option to work from anywhere within the continental United States for up to four weeks each year with manager approval. These generous time-off policies highlight our commitment to self-care and the ability to care for loved ones in emergencies.
In 2024, we launched our second ERG, WeCare, which is focused on caregiving in various forms. WeCare’s vision is to embed caring as a core value and operational principle within the company. Its mission is to empower employees to co-create a culture of care, providing educational and experiential resources related to caregiving for self and others. This initiative underscores PatientPoint’s dedication to fostering a supportive and flexible work environment that accommodates the diverse needs of its teammates.
Strive Health offers programs for patients with kidney conditions, driven by the aim to identify issues earlier on, improve outcomes and lower care costs.
What does Strive Health do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
With a workforce that consists of 78 percent women, we’re deeply committed to creating an environment where women can thrive both personally and professionally. One program that highlights our dedication includes our Women & Allies ERG, which plays a pivotal role in fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment. We provide a platform for women to support one another through targeted programs focused on career development, leadership and work-life balance, including a mentorship program and women’s leadership panels.
“With a workforce that consists of 78 percent women, we’re deeply committed to creating an environment where women can thrive both personally and professionally.”
To further support our commitment to continuous development, we offer a professional development stipend that all are empowered to use for skill-building and career advancement. Women at Strive Health have used these funds in many inspirational ways, from earning yoga certifications to investing in professional courses and improvisation classes, all while building skills to advance their careers and bring new perspectives to Strive Health. Additionally, we take pay equity very seriously. We conduct internal pay equity analyses twice a year. This allows us to proactively identify and address any disparities, ensuring that all employees are paid fairly.
How does Strive Health take extra steps to support women’s health?
Strive Health is committed to providing excellent health and wellness support for our employees, especially those in clinical and support roles, most of whom are women and directly serve patients facing significant health challenges. Our goal for employee health and well-being is to empower Strivers to care for themselves and our patients by highlighting ways to seek support and uplift one another. We do this by providing thorough and comprehensive healthcare packages with extensive coverage for preventive care and specialist consultations in addition to covering the cost of disability and life insurance.
We know everyone is on their own unique health journey, which is why we partner with Carrot Fertility to offer reproductive health support, Peloton to support physical fitness, SoFi to enable financial empowerment and meditation apps through our carriers for mental well-being. Our two employee assistance programs further enhance all offerings by providing robust counseling services. Finally, our gender identity policy ensures respect and support for gender non-conforming, transitioning or transgender individuals, highlighting resources for their well-being.
How does Strive Health offer flexibility or support for employees who are caregivers at home?
We recognize that balancing professional responsibilities with household and childcare duties can be extremely challenging, particularly for women who often take on a larger share of these duties. There are some key aspects of our commitment to support, including our Parents and Caregivers ERG, which provides a network for employees navigating the challenges of caregiving, offering resources to effectively manage work and home responsibilities. This is a place for sharing experiences, seeking advice and building connections with others.
We understand the significance of family and the need for time off during important life events. Our paid parental leave policy is designed to support all new parents with ample time off to care for and bond with their new child without financial concerns. Also, by offering paid volunteer days, employees are enabled to support causes they care about and make a positive impact. In our internal well-being Slack channel, we focus on work-life balance and stress reduction, providing practical strategies to foster an environment that encourages balanced lifestyles. We also offer hybrid-remote work options for many roles to accommodate our employees’ diverse needs.
MarketAxess’ platform digitizes fixed-income trading, furthering the company’s mission to open global markets and unlock greater opportunities for institutions and individuals.
What does MarketAxess do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
We have two ERGs specific to women: Women in Technology and the Women at MarketAxess network. The ERGs include women and some men from all areas of our organization.
WAM’s mission is to create a network to help women employees at all levels grow relationships, develop skills, progress in their careers and build the optimal workplace. Some recent events hosted by WAM include a panel discussion called “Navigating Your Career Journey with Industry Leading Women,” a sip-and-paint event and, most recently, attending an annual dinner to celebrate winning the DE&I Initiative of the Year Award from the Securities Finance Times. We also have a compensation and benefits specialist periodically conduct pay equity assessments within our organization.
WIT drives innovation, gender equality and diversity in technology through education, advocacy, networking and career and recruitment resources. Recently, WIT hosted a fireside chat with our chief information officer as well as a series of roundtables on networking and personal branding and a generative AI ideation workshop. Additionally, our partnership with Girls Who Code supports women at the high school and college levels in pursuing careers in technology.
“Our Women in Technology ERG drives innovation, gender equality and diversity in technology through education, advocacy, networking and career and recruitment resources.”
How does MarketAxess take extra steps to support women’s health?
At MarketAxess, we provide an employee assistance program through SupportLinc. The EAP offers confidential, 24/7 support to employees and dependents at no cost to employees.
On top of generous paid parental leave, we also provide pregnancy and postpartum support. This is a free service through our medical plans whereby parents can get support for different needs, such as answering pregnancy questions between doctor’s visits, creating birth plans, returning to work and scheduling virtual appointments with dozens of specialists, including OB-GYNs, nutritionists, midwives, doulas, lactation consultants and coaches for postpartum mental health and infant sleep. Participants can also join drop-in groups, read articles related to pregnancy and take on-demand classes related to topics like pregnancy 101 and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
These are among many other offerings we have that aim to navigate the complexities of women’s health and provide support to our large employee base of women.
How does MarketAxess offer flexibility or support for employees who are caregivers at home?
MarketAxess partners with Bright Horizons to offer all U.S.-based employees valuable family and education benefits. These benefits include both back-up and full-time childcare, back-up adult and eldercare, a membership to a comprehensive database of family support that includes nannies, sitters, housekeepers and more, and tutoring and test prep services.
OTR Solutions offers digital solutions that help logistics companies manage finances, fuel and business operations.
What does OTR Solutions do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
Here at OTR, we have several inclusion programs including Women in Logistics. WIL supports women in our workforce, the leadership team, clients and industry partners. Our goal is to cultivate a culture that provides equal opportunities for all employees to succeed.
Through WIL, we invite guest speakers, host networking events, plan charity and service opportunities, spotlight female clients, and maintain a mentorship program, which is the cornerstone of WIL. The mentorship program pairs new female hires with our veteran employees to help them interact with and learn from established professionals in the company with the goal of empowering the next generation of female leaders.
We also extend our impact beyond the company by supporting women in the community and across the logistics industry. With that, we’re proud to launch our second annual “Influential Leader Award,” which awards a female leader in the transportation industry with a cash prize and an invitation to a professional conference. This is to recognize and support women making a difference in our industry.
“We also extend our impact beyond the company by supporting women in the community and across the logistics industry.”
Outside of WIL, we offer a comprehensive healthcare package that includes female and maternity services, telemedicine and an employee assistance program with complimentary mental health resources.
How does OTR Solutions offer flexibility or support for employees who are caregivers at home?
Our goal is to provide an environment where people can be successful here at OTR and achieve a healthy work-life balance. We offer hybrid remote work, flexible scheduling, generous PTO, sick days, a mental health time off policy and three months of fully paid maternity leave. To offer benefits inclusive of all lifestyles, we also offer pet insurance and a travel cash bonus based on tenure.
InStride’s platform enables organizations to implement, launch and maintain workforce education programs.
What does InStride do well to support, champion and empower women in the workplace?
I kicked off our Women at InStride InNetwork, which quickly grew to 60 members. We meet on a bimonthly basis to discuss topics like mentorship, negotiation and navigating school breaks. Outside of meetings, we share book recommendations, articles and support resources. The group creates a safe space for us to show up as our whole selves and connect in our remote work environment.
This initiative is part of our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging program, which InStride invests in significantly. These groups foster a culture of belonging and allyship and, unlike traditional employee resource groups, InNetworks are fully participant-driven and meet as they choose. They have proven powerful in uplifting women in our workforce, allowing us to support one another while recognizing our diverse identities, interests and experiences.
Our DEIB efforts also include a new sponsorship program kicking off this month. This six-month program supports building a diverse senior leadership pipeline, matching sponsors with sponsees with tracks focused on expanding networks and access. It complements regular training the company has in place to equip leaders for success and retain the best talent.
How does InStride take extra steps to support women’s health?
While inclusive of but not exclusive to women’s health, InStride goes above and beyond on family expansion and support benefits. The company provides health insurance plans that cover pregnancy and fertility, fully paid parental leave up to 12 weeks and four weeks of fully paid transition time so eligible parents can gradually return to work on a part-time schedule.
These benefits are complemented by support resources for expectant parents, such as a virtual newborn class and lactation support through primary care service One Medical, backup childcare and adult care through Helpr, a dependent care flexible spending account and 24/7 access to online resources and unlimited phone consultations through our employee assistance program.
This is in addition to our excellent healthcare coverage options, which leave InStride women with minimal out-of-pocket expenses for physical and mental healthcare. In fact, the company increased our employer contribution to employees’ premiums this year, further reducing overall healthcare costs for InStriders.
How does InStride offer flexibility or support for employees who are caregivers?
InStride’s childcare and adult care benefits truly align with our company culture. Managers and team members excel at recognizing the immense task of managing care, especially for working women. Across teams, I have observed flexibility and understanding regarding the challenges of juggling these responsibilities, including the freedom to arrange schedules around both personal and professional priorities.
“Managers and team members excel at recognizing the immense task of managing child and adult care, especially for working women.”
For me, there have been days in the past year when childcare just fell through for one reason or another. I initially tried the company’s Helpr backup childcare benefit upon the recommendation of other InStride parents in my area, and it really was the support I needed to get through the work day. The company enhanced that benefit last year to include more hours and more childcare options, which I think speaks to how in tune they are with the benefit needs of their working parents.
