CCWomen in 2025: A Year to Embody “Stronger Together”

CCWomen's 2024 theme was "Empower Together," and we intend to keep its spirit burning brightly into the new year. Over the last 12 months, we hit milestone after milestone by creating more opportunities for in-person meetups, engaging in meaningful conversations, and forging connections that go beyond short-lived email exchanges. 

Our CCWomen summits increased exponentially, with sessions often overflowing with standing room only. Our membership increased in number and diversity as we added members from entirely different industries to our ranks. 

We attended several exchanges and strengthened relationships with various women executives to platform their stories in settings slightly different from our traditional CCW stage. We even lit up a billboard on Times Square with our sponsors, displaying our top highlights with the city that we call home. 

Time flew, our community grew, and now, at the beginning of 2025, we find ourselves with a new—but still very much interconnected—theme: Stronger Together. Remaining close to our core values is key to moving forward with purpose. To usher in another exciting chapter of CCWomen, we want to quickly review the four pillars that define our work.

1. BUILD A STAGE: We empower women through celebration.

CCWomen seeks to practice this pillar regularly. We continue to add women to our annual Hall of Fame and spotlight official collaborators and their industry insights on our content pieces. We practice Theresa Watts' "One Minute to Boast" at every CCWomen summit, learning to uplift our voices and acknowledge our accomplishments, even just for 60 seconds. Celebration may not come naturally, but making it a habit—especially publicly—reminds us that we have much to offer the world and deserve the stage for it.

Through its own analyses, Gallup emphasizes that celebration, specifically authentic and personalized recognition, is key to ensuring high organizational impact. People expect validation for their hard work, and rightfully so, as it gets them closer to accomplishing their career goals.

Women are all too used to having their labor unseen. One law school graduate argues that inequity doesn't just exist in the workplace but runs rampant in the home, too. Whether caretaker, parent, or partner, household responsibilities can sometimes feel unbalanced. And when we feel unappreciated in our professional and personal lives, we may doubt our capabilities.

Celebration is a critical antidote to our conceived invisibility and doesn't require a heavy lift. We should want to uplift our women in all the ways we know how through dynamic storytelling, ensuring safe spaces for vulnerability, and committing to active solidarity.  

2. CRYSTAL CLEAR: Our content is always transparent, backed by research and feedback.

As a platform dedicated to closing the gender gap in customer contact, we believe in leveraging existing data to support our cause. We routinely ask for quantitative and qualitative feedback from our plus members and summit attendees to ensure that future events address everyone's needs. What's at the forefront of women's worries? What tools do leaders need to equip their teams? How can we be a central resource for those seeking tangible career growth? 

When not brainstorming networking experiences for our community, we stay up-to-date with relevant articles. We read anything related to DEIA, leadership, or business success. Having a growth mindset is pivotal to our progress. We embrace what we don't know but actively work to close our knowledge gaps. 

Whether scouring McKinsey and Gartner or browsing academic journals, we strive to provide you with research that presents solutions for prevalent workplace issues. When we feel like we don't have a voice, data often speaks for us. 

3. SKIN IN THE GAME: We work hard to create a community that we would want to be a part of.

Community is at the core of our operations. CCWomen is what it is because of our members, plain and simple. We work hard because of the relationships that sprout from our efforts, and we're proud to continue moving forward with bigger, greater, and more daring dreams for our network. 

While our team worked behind the scenes to deliver valuable membership experiences, women took the initiative to convene with one another and foster the dynamic, inclusive environment that we always envisioned. In the past year, we've witnessed our members exchanging meaningful stories and offering support to navigate hardships. They kept in touch outside of meetups, continued email threads about industry-relevant questions, and cultivated genuine friendships that made our hearts soar. 

As we map out the rest of 2025, we're laser-focused on fostering a member-driven, people-centric space that ensures authenticity. (Have any new ideas? We'd love for you to add your voice.)

4. READY FOR CHANGE: We strive to raise the bar on equity and DEI.

DEI has been on the chopping block for various economic and political reasons. For instance, Meta took the lead and claimed that DEI further fragmented its workforce by providing better treatment for certain people groups over others. After divesting relevant programs and teams, Mark Zuckerberg explained the need for more "masculine energy" in business during his conversation with Joe Rogan. 

While it's upsetting to see corporations go back on their word and send out questionable rhetoric, others continue to stand their ground, with Costco, our friendly neighborhood retail giant, being one of them. DEI—or our favorite updated term, DEIA—is far from a divisive strategy. For women, people of color, LGBTQ+ members, and other minorities, it provides a safe baseline for conversation and change. 

When addressing discrimination and bias, history speaks for itself. Women deserve the right to equal opportunity. LGBTQ+ people should feel safe to exist and express themselves freely. Individuals shouldn't earn less or receive less respect for their race, ethnicity, or cultural background. 

More than ever, CCWomen is committed to equity. We envision a future where it transcends the workplace and permeates every crevice of our society. From addressing the gender pay gap to advocating for reproductive rights, we plan to stand firm in our values and refuse to capitalize on others' erasure. 

The new year has just started, and we're excited to continue paving our path to a brighter future. Wondering how our community embodies Stronger Together? Download our inaugural magazine to find out.