Even small events can make a big difference.

The AWIS Massachusetts (Boston) chapter “Join Me for Coffee” (JMFC) series flips the script of traditional networking. Instead of name tags, keynote speeches, or hurried LinkedIn exchanges, participants sit around a café table in a local coffee shop, sipping lattes and engaging in candid conversations. While conferences and large networking events can be enjoyable, they often come with high costs and are challenging to produce. In the Boston area, there are many events hosted by large corporations that make it difficult for non-profits with limited resources to stand out. However, we’ve found that for many professionals, particularly women in STEM, the intimacy of small gatherings provides greater value for your investment.

With fewer than a dozen attendees per meetup, these gatherings foster a sense of safety and openness often missing in formal settings. The JMFC program runs monthly, and each meetup hosts one or two experts from various STEM fields and career paths. The affordable, casual environment makes the conversations deeper and more personal, and people share more about their career challenges, failures, and doubts, which is where genuine connection begins. What emerges from these small circles isn’t just professional advice, it’s mentorship, solidarity, and community. The format allows junior scientists to ask questions they might be too intimidated to raise at a seminar or in a brief random chat at a big networking event. In turn, it gives seasoned professionals a chance to share their journeys in a more vulnerable, impactful way. It’s still networking, but it feels more like storytelling, which has a powerful effect that big events can not compete with. Attendees walk away not just with new contacts, but with a sense of belonging.

The Boston chapter is one of eight AWIS chapters who received a 2024 ‘Shooting Star’ Chapter Award. The other recipients were, Chicago, Houston, Notre Dame, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis.