Last week Rosetta Thurman and I invited interested women to join us for a career retreat in the D.C. area. Since then, we've been thrilled to hear from a number of women who are excited about the idea of working together to create their career plans and move their professional development forward. Now it's time for next steps.

The Beyond the Glass Ceiling Community
We're starting with a new community on Ning called "Beyond the Glass Ceiling." This is something I've been thinking about for a while now and with the plans for our retreat moving ahead, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to launch it.

While we'll be using the site to collaboratively plan for the upcoming retreat, I envision it as something much bigger than that. This is a community that I see being open to all women, not just women in nonprofits.

From what I know from my own friends and other women I talk to, I think that there are a lot of us who would welcome the opportunity to have an ongoing support network where we could get career advice, online mentoring, share tips and tricks for career success, etc. I see this site as being a way for women to make those connections and provide support to one another on an ongoing basis, rather than just once in a while when we attend a retreat.

So while the site is launching in part as a way for us to plan the D.C. retreat, I'm hoping that word will spread and that other women will join the network to begin connecting, sharing and receiving career support. As Rosetta says, it's always good to have some cheerleaders in your corner.

The Beyond the Glass Ceiling Blog
Along with the launch of the Beyond the Glass Ceiling network, I've also decided to launch a new blog to support the community. What I've realized in the past few months is that I want to write much more about women's career issues and professional development than I can really do here. Although I've been able to dabble in general career and development posts, my primary focus has been on technology, learning and nonprofits and making a shift here just doesn't work. 

I still plan to write here at Bamboo, but by setting up a online new home, I can be more targeted on career and professional development issues specific to women without confusing or frustrating my readers here. It will also be less confusing for me. I've come to realize in my 31 Days to a Better Blog that there's something to be said for knowing and staying in your niche.

Next Steps
So where to go from here?

• If you are a woman who wants to start investing in herself on a regular basis, rather than only once in a while, I hope you'll join us at the Beyond the Glass Ceiling community. At a minimum, please check out the Beyond the Glass Ceiling blog  and let me know what you think. I want it to be useful tool, so all feedback is welcome. 

• If you're interested in attending the retreat that we're planning for D.C., definitely join the community because this is how we'll be putting together the event and sharing future plans with everyone who's interested in attending. It's the only way we can manage everything effectively!
  

• If you know other women who might be interested in reading the blog, joining the community and/or attending the retreat, please send this post along to them to let them know what we're planning. Anyone is welcome to join us, so feel free to share.
  

• No matter who you are, man OR woman, check out Rosetta's latest post on how to Kickstart Your Nonprofit Career in 7 Days. As usual, awesome career advice that would benefit anyone, even if you aren't working for a nonprofit. (I'm still finding it hard to believe that she's only 24!)

I'm really excited about this new direction and the potential it has for women. I'd love to have you join us or hear what you think about the idea.

View my profile on Beyond the Glass Ceiling