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这家初创企业的会员要颠覆公司管理层

这家初创企业的会员要颠覆公司管理层

Emma Hinchliffe 2020-07-08
女性专用共享办公空间The wing的会员们发起了要求更换公司管理层的行动。

凭借“团结女性,创造辉煌”的承诺,The Wing筹集了超过1亿美元的风投资金,估值达到了2亿美元。赛琳娜•威廉姆斯和梅根•拉皮诺埃这样的投资人也与其签订了投资协议。但成也萧何,败也萧何,让其一飞冲天的承诺可能也会将公司管理层拉下马。

女性专用共享办公空间The Wing在美国及全球共开设了十余家,会员每年需支付高达2700美元的会费才能加入其中。上月,约有750名现有会员和前会员通过Slack联合召开了一场会议,旨在讨论The Wing黑人及棕色人种员工的待遇问题。7月1日,其中41名参会人员共同向The Wing董事会发出建言信,要求近期被罢免的公司首席执行官奥黛丽•吉尔曼退出董事会,同时要求公司联合创始人劳伦•卡珊扫辞去首席运营官一职,以及全面改进公司经营模式。(会议组织者声称,他们曾经要求不支持该倡议的会员退出Slack聊天群,但仍然有750名会员活跃在该群组中。所以,对此持支持意见的人远不止上述41名签名者。)

比安卡•麦克斯韦尔是共享办公空间The Wing的一名会员,在她的组织下,许多会员发起了要求更换公司管理层的行动。2019年7月,她在The Wing波士顿分部拍摄了这张照片。 图片来源:JESSICA RINALDI—THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES

她们还将建言信提供给了《财富》杂志,信中要求The Wing在7月17日前满足所列的各项内容。The Wing现由“CEO办公室”负责运营,负责人包括卡珊以及塞莱斯丁•麦迪和阿什利•皮特森两位高管。(本文作者在2018年3月至2019年3月曾经是The Wing的会员。)

The Wing在发给《财富》杂志的声明中回应道:“我们一直很乐于与会员就后疫情时代公司的未来进行讨论,也乐于与会员一起,为实现我们打造包容性社区、造福全体女性的目标而努力。我们非常感谢会员对The Wing社区的热情支持,也希望能与她们进行建设性的合作。”

上月,在吉尔曼辞去首席执行官一职后,一些会员便聚集到了一起。此前数周,《纽约时报》曾经发表一份报告,称The Wing的员工——特别是负责前台、厨房和清洁工作的黑人和棕色人种女性小时工——经常受到管理层和会员的霸凌。 在这篇文章中,一名The Wing的前员工表示,自己在该公司的白人会员眼中简直就如同“奴仆”一般。(作为回应,The Wing的一位发言人告诉《纽约时报》,该公司“一直都以最高标准善待自己的员工”。)此种霸凌行径无论发生在哪家公司都会让人无法接受,更何况是The Wing这样一家靠标榜女权和平等起家的公司。难道受雇于该公司的有色人种女性就应该被排除在其所谓的使命之外吗?

“The Wing的初衷”

6月11日,吉尔曼辞去了首席执行官一职(67名The Wing员工线上罢工是该事件的导火索之一),这一举动引爆了这家共享办公企业的会员群体,比安卡•麦克斯韦尔表示:“我为自己The Wing会员的身份感到羞耻。”比安卡是一家创业公司的创始人,她于去年加入了The Wing的波士顿分部,正是她创建了Slack群组,供其他会员汇聚于此,讨论The Wing员工的遭遇。她说:“这些年轻女工的遭遇让我很难受,当她们在幕后忍受着种种痛苦时,我们却坐在粉红色的沙发上,这让我感觉自己也是霸凌者的同伙。”

这些粉色沙发是The Wing女权品牌形象的标志,与该品牌相关的方方面面都透露着女权的气息,无论是与希拉里•克林顿这样的领袖人物联合举办的活动,还是印有赫敏•格兰杰、费老师等虚构女英雄的电话亭,都是如此。甚至在售价17.5美元的The Wing品牌钥匙串上都印着女权主义口号:“女孩们就应该活得随心所欲。”

起草倡议的The Wing会员来自各行各业,包括法律、传播、新闻等多种领域。詹妮娜•努内兹在芝加哥从事公关工作,也是参与本次倡议的会员之一,她说:“The Wing 的初衷就是如此,将具有不同经验、不同技能和不同专业背景的会员联系在一起。”

原则、抱负和对社区的渴望让这些女性汇聚到The Wing,也正是这些特质促使她们发起了本次行动。签署了倡议书的会员表示,在The Wing未能履行自己所标榜的使命时,她们无法袖手旁观。“我是The Wing的付费会员,但同时也是一名年轻的黑人女性,现在这个组织正在伤害和我妹妹一样的女性,我怎么可能不站出来维护她们的权益?”麦克斯韦尔说道。

据The Wing估计,该公司现有约10,000名会员,也就是说,本次“联合上书”的750人仅相当于其全部会员的7.5%。显然,并非所有会员都想参与其中。麦克斯韦尔表示,在吉尔曼宣布辞职并报告了The Wing发生的种种问题之后,已经有会员在社区应用上发文称,“无论如何”都会继续做The Wing的会员。

提出要求

在建言信中,会员们对The Wing的管理提出了要求。她们不仅希望吉尔曼辞去董事会的职务,还要求其售出所持有的10% The Wing股份。(麦克斯韦尔说:“我们不想给奥黛丽送钱,让她变得更富有。在我看来,只要奥黛丽还赖在董事会,那么和我有共同诉求的人就没有一个会回The Wing。”)她们还希望与吉尔曼一起创办了The Wing的卡珊、社区总监弗兰奇•费伦茨以及负责运营工作的高级副总裁皮特森都辞去公司职务。(The Wing拒绝对此予以置评。)

除了涉及公司领导权的要求,会员们还提出,如有LGBTQ或有色人种的会员要求退还会费, The Wing需予以批准。此外,由于有些种族主义事件或其它霸凌员工事件中的施暴者是The Wing会员(如广为人知的2019年西好莱坞种族主义事件),她们还要求该公司制定反种族主义的行为准则,并强制要求全体会员遵守。(上周,The Wing启用了新的“文化准则”,其中包括一些企业使命描述,比如:“我们创造的这种财富将令我们的子孙为之骄傲”。)

许多曾经在The Wing工作过的员工向该公司提出过自己的要求,其中有些人也通过名为“逃离伤心地(Flew the Coup)”的Instagram账户分享了自己在The Wing的遭遇。而前述建言信的签署者们表示,她们希望进一步充实这些The Wing前员工所提出的要求,包括缩小不同种族员工间的薪资差距、提高员工医疗保险待遇、在公司重启和重建后优先雇佣离职员工以及公开道歉等。(The Wing表示,上周,公司已经在发给会员和员工的邮件中就“未在公司内部践行我们的交叉女权主义使命”向公司员工道歉。该公司拒绝对薪资差异问题予以置评。)

但会员们也已经开始展望未来,她们希望:吉尔曼空出来的董事会席位能由有色人种或LGBTQ背景的高管填补;The Wing的下一任首席执行官、首席运营官和人事副总裁可以由与该公司各种内部问题无关的外部候选人担任;以及上述职位中的至少两个由有色人种或LGBTQ背景的人士担任。

未来之路

归根结底,签署建言信的会员们希望The Wing能够践行自己尚未完成的使命:打造适合女权主义者事业的财务模型。按照她们设想的财务模型,非豁免员工中的最高薪水不得超过最低薪水的两倍。

这一要求正中矛盾的关键所在,在标榜自己要推动女权主义的同时,The Wing本质上还是一家要靠风投资本支持的初创企业。在Kleiner Perkins、红杉资本等投资者的关注下,吉尔曼和卡珊自然要追求快速增长、为自己背后的金主带来财务回报。一些The Wing的前员工匿名作证表示,自己遭受会员霸凌、被迫承担额外工作的投诉根本无人理会,而在总部工作的员工则因为要求过高的项目上线时间表而忙得焦头烂额。

萨•布伊是一名就业诉讼律师,作为The Wing洛杉矶分部的会员,她也是建言信的签名人之一,并在寄送给The Wing之前审阅了信件内容。她说:“资本主义与女权主义是一对怪异的伴侣。如果The Wing真地满足了信中所列要求,那它就不可能获得高额利润。所以说,要实现目标必须非常有耐心才行。”

在上周发给会员和员工的电子邮件中,The Wing也表达了同样的顾虑,该公司在邮件中写道:“我们需要对公司业务进行重新改造,化解交叉女权主义与资本主义之间的切实矛盾,实现二者的和谐相处。虽然我们现在尚未实现The Wing的使命,但我们坚信这一目标终将实现。”

会员们将建言信寄给了公司的董事会和多位投资者,包括红杉资本的杰西•李、谷歌风投的杰西卡•维利利、Upfront Ventures的卡拉•诺特曼,以及来自好莱坞、体育界和政界的知名投资人,比如威廉姆斯、拉皮诺、瓦莱丽•贾瑞特、克里•华盛顿和亚历克斯•摩根等人。这些会员相信,许多投资者之所以投资The Wing,就是因为他们与这些会员一样相信The Wing将致力于“通过集体的力量提升妇女在职场、公民权、社会和经济领域的地位”。

她们希望自己的意见可以被权威人士所采纳并采取相应行动。“我希望他们会说,作为决策者和领袖,我们能做些什么来确保此类事件不再发生?” 麦克斯韦尔说,“他们可以促使The Wing践行自己的诺言,而不只是弄些粉色的墙壁和沙发,尽做些表面功夫。” (财富中文网)

译者:Feb

比安卡•麦克斯韦尔是共享办公空间The Wing的一名会员,在她的组织下,许多会员发起了要求更换公司管理层的行动。2019年7月,她在The Wing波士顿分部拍摄了这张照片。

凭借“团结女性,创造辉煌”的承诺,The Wing筹集了超过1亿美元的风投资金,估值达到了2亿美元。赛琳娜•威廉姆斯和梅根•拉皮诺埃这样的投资人也与其签订了投资协议。但成也萧何,败也萧何,让其一飞冲天的承诺可能也会将公司管理层拉下马。

女性专用共享办公空间The Wing在美国及全球共开设了十余家,会员每年需支付高达2700美元的会费才能加入其中。上月,约有750名现有会员和前会员通过Slack联合召开了一场会议,旨在讨论The Wing黑人及棕色人种员工的待遇问题。7月1日,其中41名参会人员共同向The Wing董事会发出建言信,要求近期被罢免的公司首席执行官奥黛丽•吉尔曼退出董事会,同时要求公司联合创始人劳伦•卡珊扫辞去首席运营官一职,以及全面改进公司经营模式。(会议组织者声称,他们曾经要求不支持该倡议的会员退出Slack聊天群,但仍然有750名会员活跃在该群组中。所以,对此持支持意见的人远不止上述41名签名者。)

她们还将建言信提供给了《财富》杂志,信中要求The Wing在7月17日前满足所列的各项内容。The Wing现由“CEO办公室”负责运营,负责人包括卡珊以及塞莱斯丁•麦迪和阿什利•皮特森两位高管。(本文作者在2018年3月至2019年3月曾经是The Wing的会员。)

The Wing在发给《财富》杂志的声明中回应道:“我们一直很乐于与会员就后疫情时代公司的未来进行讨论,也乐于与会员一起,为实现我们打造包容性社区、造福全体女性的目标而努力。我们非常感谢会员对The Wing社区的热情支持,也希望能与她们进行建设性的合作。”

上月,在吉尔曼辞去首席执行官一职后,一些会员便聚集到了一起。此前数周,《纽约时报》曾经发表一份报告,称The Wing的员工——特别是负责前台、厨房和清洁工作的黑人和棕色人种女性小时工——经常受到管理层和会员的霸凌。 在这篇文章中,一名The Wing的前员工表示,自己在该公司的白人会员眼中简直就如同“奴仆”一般。(作为回应,The Wing的一位发言人告诉《纽约时报》,该公司“一直都以最高标准善待自己的员工”。)此种霸凌行径无论发生在哪家公司都会让人无法接受,更何况是The Wing这样一家靠标榜女权和平等起家的公司。难道受雇于该公司的有色人种女性就应该被排除在其所谓的使命之外吗?

“The Wing的初衷”

6月11日,吉尔曼辞去了首席执行官一职(67名The Wing员工线上罢工是该事件的导火索之一),这一举动引爆了这家共享办公企业的会员群体,比安卡•麦克斯韦尔表示:“我为自己The Wing会员的身份感到羞耻。”比安卡是一家创业公司的创始人,她于去年加入了The Wing的波士顿分部,正是她创建了Slack群组,供其他会员汇聚于此,讨论The Wing员工的遭遇。她说:“这些年轻女工的遭遇让我很难受,当她们在幕后忍受着种种痛苦时,我们却坐在粉红色的沙发上,这让我感觉自己也是霸凌者的同伙。”

这些粉色沙发是The Wing女权品牌形象的标志,与该品牌相关的方方面面都透露着女权的气息,无论是与希拉里•克林顿这样的领袖人物联合举办的活动,还是印有赫敏•格兰杰、费老师等虚构女英雄的电话亭,都是如此。甚至在售价17.5美元的The Wing品牌钥匙串上都印着女权主义口号:“女孩们就应该活得随心所欲。”

起草倡议的The Wing会员来自各行各业,包括法律、传播、新闻等多种领域。詹妮娜•努内兹在芝加哥从事公关工作,也是参与本次倡议的会员之一,她说:“The Wing 的初衷就是如此,将具有不同经验、不同技能和不同专业背景的会员联系在一起。”

原则、抱负和对社区的渴望让这些女性汇聚到The Wing,也正是这些特质促使她们发起了本次行动。签署了倡议书的会员表示,在The Wing未能履行自己所标榜的使命时,她们无法袖手旁观。“我是The Wing的付费会员,但同时也是一名年轻的黑人女性,现在这个组织正在伤害和我妹妹一样的女性,我怎么可能不站出来维护她们的权益?”麦克斯韦尔说道。

据The Wing估计,该公司现有约10,000名会员,也就是说,本次“联合上书”的750人仅相当于其全部会员的7.5%。显然,并非所有会员都想参与其中。麦克斯韦尔表示,在吉尔曼宣布辞职并报告了The Wing发生的种种问题之后,已经有会员在社区应用上发文称,“无论如何”都会继续做The Wing的会员。

提出要求

在建言信中,会员们对The Wing的管理提出了要求。她们不仅希望吉尔曼辞去董事会的职务,还要求其售出所持有的10% The Wing股份。(麦克斯韦尔说:“我们不想给奥黛丽送钱,让她变得更富有。在我看来,只要奥黛丽还赖在董事会,那么和我有共同诉求的人就没有一个会回The Wing。”)她们还希望与吉尔曼一起创办了The Wing的卡珊、社区总监弗兰奇•费伦茨以及负责运营工作的高级副总裁皮特森都辞去公司职务。(The Wing拒绝对此予以置评。)

除了涉及公司领导权的要求,会员们还提出,如有LGBTQ或有色人种的会员要求退还会费, The Wing需予以批准。此外,由于有些种族主义事件或其它霸凌员工事件中的施暴者是The Wing会员(如广为人知的2019年西好莱坞种族主义事件),她们还要求该公司制定反种族主义的行为准则,并强制要求全体会员遵守。(上周,The Wing启用了新的“文化准则”,其中包括一些企业使命描述,比如:“我们创造的这种财富将令我们的子孙为之骄傲”。)

许多曾经在The Wing工作过的员工向该公司提出过自己的要求,其中有些人也通过名为“逃离伤心地(Flew the Coup)”的Instagram账户分享了自己在The Wing的遭遇。而前述建言信的签署者们表示,她们希望进一步充实这些The Wing前员工所提出的要求,包括缩小不同种族员工间的薪资差距、提高员工医疗保险待遇、在公司重启和重建后优先雇佣离职员工以及公开道歉等。(The Wing表示,上周,公司已经在发给会员和员工的邮件中就“未在公司内部践行我们的交叉女权主义使命”向公司员工道歉。该公司拒绝对薪资差异问题予以置评。)

但会员们也已经开始展望未来,她们希望:吉尔曼空出来的董事会席位能由有色人种或LGBTQ背景的高管填补;The Wing的下一任首席执行官、首席运营官和人事副总裁可以由与该公司各种内部问题无关的外部候选人担任;以及上述职位中的至少两个由有色人种或LGBTQ背景的人士担任。

未来之路

归根结底,签署建言信的会员们希望The Wing能够践行自己尚未完成的使命:打造适合女权主义者事业的财务模型。按照她们设想的财务模型,非豁免员工中的最高薪水不得超过最低薪水的两倍。

这一要求正中矛盾的关键所在,在标榜自己要推动女权主义的同时,The Wing本质上还是一家要靠风投资本支持的初创企业。在Kleiner Perkins、红杉资本等投资者的关注下,吉尔曼和卡珊自然要追求快速增长、为自己背后的金主带来财务回报。一些The Wing的前员工匿名作证表示,自己遭受会员霸凌、被迫承担额外工作的投诉根本无人理会,而在总部工作的员工则因为要求过高的项目上线时间表而忙得焦头烂额。

萨•布伊是一名就业诉讼律师,作为The Wing洛杉矶分部的会员,她也是建言信的签名人之一,并在寄送给The Wing之前审阅了信件内容。她说:“资本主义与女权主义是一对怪异的伴侣。如果The Wing真地满足了信中所列要求,那它就不可能获得高额利润。所以说,要实现目标必须非常有耐心才行。”

在上周发给会员和员工的电子邮件中,The Wing也表达了同样的顾虑,该公司在邮件中写道:“我们需要对公司业务进行重新改造,化解交叉女权主义与资本主义之间的切实矛盾,实现二者的和谐相处。虽然我们现在尚未实现The Wing的使命,但我们坚信这一目标终将实现。”

会员们将建言信寄给了公司的董事会和多位投资者,包括红杉资本的杰西•李、谷歌风投的杰西卡•维利利、Upfront Ventures的卡拉•诺特曼,以及来自好莱坞、体育界和政界的知名投资人,比如威廉姆斯、拉皮诺、瓦莱丽•贾瑞特、克里•华盛顿和亚历克斯•摩根等人。这些会员相信,许多投资者之所以投资The Wing,就是因为他们与这些会员一样相信The Wing将致力于“通过集体的力量提升妇女在职场、公民权、社会和经济领域的地位”。

她们希望自己的意见可以被权威人士所采纳并采取相应行动。“我希望他们会说,作为决策者和领袖,我们能做些什么来确保此类事件不再发生?” 麦克斯韦尔说,“他们可以促使The Wing践行自己的诺言,而不只是弄些粉色的墙壁和沙发,尽做些表面功夫。” (财富中文网)

译者:Feb

The Wing raised more than $100 million in venture capital funding, reached a valuation of $200 million, and signed names like Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe as investors—all on the promise of bringing together powerful women to create something bigger than themselves. That pledge, it turns out, may be company leadership’s downfall.

A coalition of about 750 current and former Wing members, who paid up to $2,700 a year for access to the women’s co-working space with a dozen locations across the country and abroad, convened via Slack last month to discuss the treatment of Black and brown staffers who worked in Wing locations. On July 1, a group of 41 of those current and former members sent a letter to the four-year-old startup’s board of directors demanding the resignation of recently ousted CEO Audrey Gelman from the company’s board of directors, the departure of her co-founder Lauren Kassan as chief operating officer, and a complete revamp of the Wing’s way of doing business. (In addition to the 41 signers, the organizers say there is broader support for their missive, noting that they asked anyone who did not support the letter to leave the Slack chat; those 750 remain active in the channel.)

The letter, which organizers shared with Fortune, asks the Wing, currently run by an "Office of the CEO" consisting of Kassan and executives Celestine Maddy and Ashley Peterson, to meet the demands outlined in the letter by July 17. (The author of this article was a member of the Wing between March 2018 and March 2019.)

"We are always happy to have a conversation with our members about how we can reimagine the Wing’s post-COVID future and work together toward our shared goal of creating an inclusive community that lifts up all women," the Wing said in a statement to Fortune. "We appreciate the passion our members have about the Wing community and hope to be able to constructively work with them."

The members came together last month after Gelman resigned as chief executive. Weeks earlier the New York Times had published a report that described Wing employees—particularly the Black and brown women who work in hourly front desk, kitchen, and cleaning jobs—as being routinely mistreated by management and members. One former space staffer described in the Times article being treated as “the help” by white members. (In response, a Wing spokesperson told the Times that the company “maintained employment best practices.”) Such behavior would be unacceptable at any company, but the allegations had a special sting at the Wing, which built its brand around the language of feminism and equality. Were the women of color who worked for the company excluded from its professed mission?

'What the Wing was designed to do'

Gelman’s resignation on June 11—spurred in part by the digital walkout of 67 Wing headquarters staffers—lit a fire under members of the co-working company. “I was embarrassed to be a member,” said Bianca Maxwell, a startup founder who joined the Wing in Boston last year and created the Slack channel for fellow members to congregate and discuss the stories they were hearing about workers’ experiences. “To read stories of what young women had to endure behind the scenes while the rest of us were sitting on pink couches—it was upsetting and made me feel complicit,” she says.

Those pink couches were a hallmark of the Wing’s feminist brand identity, which was on display in everything from its events with leaders like Hillary Clinton to its phone booths emblazoned with the names of fictional heroines (Hermione Granger and Ms. Frizzle) to a trademark phrase highlighted on $17.50 Wing keychains: “Girls doing whatever the f*** they want.”

The Wing members who came together to draft a list of demands for company leadership work across law, communications, journalism, and other fields. “That’s what the Wing was designed to do—connect members of different experiences, different skill sets, and different professional backgrounds,” says Jenina Nuñez, a Chicago PR professional and member involved in the effort.

The same qualities that attracted these women to the Wing—their principles, their ambition, and their desire for community—have spurred the members into action. The signatories say they couldn’t sit idly by while the Wing fell short of what they had been told was its mission. “Me being a young, Black woman who’s a paying member of a space that has harmed who could pretty much be my little sisters—why wouldn’t I advocate for them?” Maxwell says.

The Wing estimates its current membership at 10,000, in which case a coalition of 750 people would represent about 7.5% of total members. It’s clear, however, that not all members are on board with this effort. After Gelman’s resignation and reporting about problems at the Wing, some members posted on the community’s app that they would keep their membership “no matter what,” Maxwell said.

Making demands

In their letter, members make demands about current Wing leadership. Not only do they want Gelman’s resignation from the board, but they demand that she sell her 10% equity stake in the company (“We don’t want to make Audrey richer,” Maxwell says. “I don’t think anyone I worked with would step foot back in the Wing if Audrey was still on the board.”). They also want Gelman's co-founder Kassan, director of community Frenchie Ferenczi, and Peterson, who is senior vice president of operations, to resign. (The Wing declined to comment on the demands or allegations addressed to specific executives).

The members’ demands go beyond company leadership. The letter also asks that any LGBTQ members or members of color who request refunds be granted them. And because some of the incidents of racism or other disrespectful behavior toward Wing staff—including one high-profile racist incident in West Hollywood in 2019—came from paying members, the signatories want the company to impose an anti-racism code of conduct that all members would be required to follow. (The Wing introduced a new "culture code" last week, including mission statements like, "We are building a legacy that our great-grandchildren will be proud of.")

The letter signers say they seek to amplify demands already made by staff who worked in Wing spaces, some of whom have shared their experiences through an Instagram account called Flew the Coup. Those demands include closing what they say is a racial pay gap among staffers, improving employee health insurance, providing hiring preference for departed staff as the company reopens and rebuilds, and issuing a public apology. (The Wing says it did apologize to space staffers "for not internalizing our mission of intersectional feminism" in an email sent to members and employees last week. The company declined to comment the allegations of a pay disparity.)

But the members are also looking to the future. They want Gelman’s board seat to be filled by a person of color or an LGBTQ director. They want the next CEO, COO, and VP of People of the Wing to be external candidates—untied to the mess inside the company—and for at least two of those roles to be filled by LGBTQ people or people of color.

The path forward

Ultimately, the letter writers want the Wing to do something they say it has so far failed to accomplish: develop a financial model for how to run a feminist business. Under their proposed model, the highest paid non-exempt salaried employee could not exceed two times the salary of the lowest-paid salaried employee.

This demand gets at the core tension between the Wing’s stated mission and its status as a venture-backed startup. With investors including Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital, Gelman and Kassan sought fast growth and a financial return for their backers. Some of the former staffers said in anonymous testimonials that complaints about their treatment by members or duties outside their job descriptions were ignored while headquarters employees were overwhelmed by demanding launch schedules.

“Capitalism and feminism are strange bedfellows,” says Thy Bui, a Los Angeles Wing member, signatory, and employment litigator who reviewed the letter before it was sent to the company. “[The Wing] isn’t going to be a mass profit machine if they implement the ideas outlined in the letter. … It’s a path that will take a lot of patience.”

The Wing itself acknowledged that same unease in an email sent to members and employees last week. "We need to reinvent the business in a way that reconciles the real tension between intersectional feminism and capitalism," the company wrote. "We fundamentally believe in the Wing’s mission even if we haven’t yet achieved it."

The members sent their letter to the company’s board of directors and to investors, who include Sequoia Capital’s Jess Lee, Google Ventures’ Jessica Verilli, Upfront Ventures’ Kara Nortman, and names from Hollywood, sports, and politics including Williams, Rapinoe, Valerie Jarrett, Kerry Washington, and Alex Morgan. Many of these investors, the members speculate, put their money behind the Wing for the same reason members did: they believed in its mission of “professional, civic, social, and economic advancement of women through community.”

They’re hopeful these influential figures will listen and take action. “I would hope they would say, what can we as decision-makers and leaders do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?” says Maxwell. “They can make sure the company is living out its mission statement and isn’t just pink walls and couches.”

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