We are founder-managed and member-led.

Our founder, Kate, is actively invested in and involved as the community manager of the group, setting the stage for the connection, education, and unabashed support that have come to be the hallmarks of the community.

But Kate also has a career that she loves, so she relies on members to help shape the community, which they do through things like participating in our oft-employed emoji polls (🦙🍑💞🤠), dropping a channel rec in our digital “suggestion box,” or presenting workshops to the community.

In short, this is a space that is engaged and active and always changing to reflect the group as it grows. (As it should be!)

Our Founder

Kate Westlund Tovsen
Founder & Convener in Chief

Person with long blonde hair and glasses wearing a gray sweater and smiling.

The Society of Working Moms was born shortly after the birth of Kate’s second child. Though on paper Kate knew she was quite well supported, she still felt like she needed more. And she figured she wasn’t the only one.

Taking advantage of an expected seasonal downturn in her consulting work, she set to work creating the group she wished she had, studying at length how best to build and manage a community, and having virtual coffees with potential partners that also felt strongly about meeting the needs of working moms.

She adores this community of supportive, smart, engaged, powerhouse women and is eager to meet even more!

Our Coaching Partners

Jess Ringgenberg, PCC
SOWM Head of Coaching
Founder and CEO, ELIXR Coaching & Consulting

Jess sitting on a couch with a huge smile; legs crossed and her arms bracing on the couch cushion.

After years in leadership roles within a Fortune 500 company, Jess experienced firsthand the systemic barriers women and mothers face at work. She left corporate life to focus on closing these gaps, blending science-backed frameworks with research in neuroscience, positive psychology, and matrescence—the transformational identity shift into motherhood. She lives in Dallas, TX, with her husband and two pre-teen boys.

Kelly Ling, ACC
SOWM Coach-in-Residence
Founder, Stork & Spark

Kelly is an executive coach who supports ambitious, expectant parents as they navigate fertility, pregnancy, parental leave, and return to work. She knows firsthand that the transformation into parenthood can also be a career growth opportunity. She lives in California with her husband and two young kids.

Workshop Presenters & Speakers

  • Smiling person with long hair wearing a black sweater against a yellow background

    Sloane Stuart Bartley

    Workshop Presenter:
    Recruiter Resume Tips

    LinkedIn
  • Woman with glasses and gray hair wearing a scarf and sweater, sitting by a window.

    Nancy Dilts

    Workshop Presenter:
    Enclothed Cognition

    Website
  • Smiling woman with long hair, wearing white top and earrings, sitting against a plain background.

    Jess Galica

    Ask The Expert:
    Career Transitions

    Website
  • Person with long blonde hair smiling in a light-colored sweater.

    Katie Gilder

    Ask The Expert:
    Diet & Nutrition

    WEBSITE
  • Smiling woman with long brown hair in a black shirt, sitting in front of a wooden backdrop with decorative items.

    Tamara Hinckley

    Workshop Presenter:
    Get 8 Hours Back a Week

    Substack
  • Woman smiling, wearing a patterned scarf and dark shirt, with a blurred natural background.

    Katie Huey

    Ask The Expert:
    Talking About Grief

    Website
  • Smiling woman with long curly hair against a yellow background.

    Mouna Laaragat

    Workshop Presenter:
    Finding Rest In Resilience

    Website
  • Person sitting in front of a bookshelf, wearing a gray sweater.

    Annie Lyons

    Author Chat:
    The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett

    Website
  • A person with wavy hair and a black button-up shirt smiling against a dark background.

    Annie Nolte-Henning

    Panelist:
    The Power Pivot

    LinkedIn
  • A woman with brown hair smiling against a gray background.

    Barbara Palmer

    Workshop Presenter:
    Mother’s Vision

    Website
  • Person wearing glasses and a yellow top, smiling.

    L'Oreal Thompson Payton

    Panelist: The Power Pivot
    Author Chat: Stop Waiting For Perfect

    Website
  • Smiling person with curly hair wearing a purple shirt and layered necklaces, against a solid green background.

    Rebecca Pino

    Workshop Presenter:
    Building Generational Wealth

    LINKEDIN
  • Woman with long dark hair wearing a pink sweater, sitting on a white couch in a softly lit room.

    Neha Leela Ruch

    Panelist: The Power Pivot
    Author Chat: The Power Pause

    Website
  • Portrait of a woman with dark hair, smiling, resting her chin on her hand.

    Elissa Strauss

    Ask The Expert:
    Care Feminism

    Website
  • Person wearing blue and red plaid shirt, smiling, indoors with brick wall background.

    Haley Thannum

    Workshop Presenter:
    Maternity Leave for Freelancers

    Website
  • Portrait of a woman with long brown hair, wearing a black shirt and a necklace, smiling at the camera.

    Missy Voronyak

    Workshop Presenter:
    LinkedIn Profile Optimization,
    LinkedIn Content & Connections

    Website

  • Jennifer Westpfahl

    Workshop Presenter:
    See It, Be It Vision Boarding

    Website
  • Person with glasses and dark hair wearing a white shirt, standing indoors.

    Jillian Whitlow

    Workshop Presenter:
    Outside-the-Box Job Applications

    Click Here