State of The Dot: Celebrating Two Years of Connection, Growth & Impact

Happy 2nd Birthday to The Dot Twin Cities

With Love, Anne & Rachel

Three years ago, The Dot Twin Cities was just an idea—an ambitious vision to create a space where professional women across the Twin Cities could connect, grow, and elevate one another. Today, we stand at a milestone worth celebrating, not just for what we’ve built, but for the powerful community that has come together to make it happen. We often reflect on The Dot’s launch— a vibrant evening shared at a local venue, where we rejoiced when 40 women signed up and believed in what The Dot could do. Now, as we enter year three and celebrate our second birthday, we have sold out an event for 150 women—many of whom we’ve never even met. And that is the power of The Dot.

In just 24 months, we have grown into a vibrant network of women who show up for each other, share opportunities, and invest in collective success. We’ve shared intimate coffee meetups, large-scale soirées, dynamic workshops, work-out classes, and elevated panels. Throughout each event, every connection formed and every conversation sparked has reinforced our belief that when women connect and support each other, incredible things happen.

Some of our proudest accomplishments over the last year includes:

• Launch of our new, revamped website;
• Welcoming two new board members to our team;
• Building our third round of ambassadors to a team of eight trailblazing women that represent so many different facets of our community;
• Creating a new platform for our online Network that is more engaging and user-friendly for on the go connections;
• Selling out almost all of our events throughout the last year, including a total of over 500 women attending 12 events;
• Growing in over 1,000 new followers on Instagram

Of course, these numbers only tell one part of the story. The better story is one that we can’t quantify. Instead, it’s a story that is felt in the air of each event. One thing we love to do is to take a step back at each event and watch how it all unfolds: from the connections made, the nodding of heads when a speaker says something that everyone can relate to, to the value that each person walks away with. Whether it’s over a favorite book, or a shared work experience, the connections built at The Dot is how we keep going and keep growing. This year, you showed up. You brought a friend (or maybe not), and you believed in what we were building.

Looking ahead, we are more energized than ever. Our mission stays the same as it’s been since day one: to connect the dots of professional women across the Twin Cities, no matter where you work, what you do, or where you come from. We want to continue to provide intentional, accessible opportunities for women to engage, learn, and network in ways that are both impactful to your professional growth, but also fill your cup. We also remain committed to growing our partnerships with organizations and companies that align with our mission, in order to broaden the resources available to our members and keep our Dot events accessible as possible. Lastly, we want to continue to listen to what our members need in order to strengthen our community. The Dot is here to support you in your professional growth — to give you the tools and the opportunities to elevate whatever stage you are in your career.

One of my favorite morning rituals is when Anne and I are both commuting to our downtown jobs, where we can spend 20 minutes plotting out what’s going on with The Dot. We plan, we dream, we execute, and we are continuously amazed by what opportunities have come together and fallen into place to make this organization exceptional. Last year, around this time, we were embarking on a new path as Anne and I said goodbye as coworkers; we weren’t sure what the future of The Dot would like in a new capacity where we didn’t share a wall. And now, even as Anne prepares for maternity leave and I am ramping up a busy work season, we still feel that the Dot can live on beyond us because of our incredible team that makes these events come to life. 

None of this would be possible without you—our members, our ambassadors, our sponsors, partners, allies, board members, Dot team alum, and community. Your passion, energy, and willingness to invest in bettering yourself and your community have made The Dot what it is today. 

Cheers to another year of “connecting The Dots” with you!

 — Anne & Rachel