I’m starting a new career as an entrepreneur, and have been spending time finding the resources and organizations that are available to me.

The problem I want to work on is helping parents, primarily women, who are finding it difficult to remain engaged in the workforce once they have a family. I see this happening a lot in the engineering, science, and technology professions – someone is well educated, has opportunity professionally, and is advancing, but at the mid-career point, women start to drop out. When I was an undergrad at MIT, about 40% of the students were women, and now the population is up to 50%. Women are interested in the work and can do it, but something is missing when it comes to working in the conventional workplace and meeting the needs of your family.

Here are several groups that I’ve found which are focused on female entrepreneurs and leaders in business. Most of them have events and activities near where I live. I’ve recently joined their mailing lists, and am starting to attend events.

http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/ – This is a national organization for women who start their own companies. They have a chapter in Los Angeles.

http://smartypeople.com/ – This group is a network for women in business, with a focus on entrepreneurship. It started in LA, and has spread throughout SoCal.

http://www.women2.org/ – Women 2.0 is a emerging global media company for aspiring and current female entrepreneurs to launch successful scalable, innovative venture. They sponsor in-person events, primarily in the SF Bay and New York area.

http://foundingmoms.com/ – They are also national, have a chapter in Los Angeles, and meet monthly with other mom entrepreneurs.

http://www.broadscircle.com/ – This group is LA based, and is focused on driving revenue and growing capital for women.

http://www.suwn.org/ – This is a national non-profit that is focused on connecting and advancing women and girls.