The Wing (workspace)

The Wing
Company typePrivate
FoundedOctober 2016; 8 years ago (2016-10)
FoundersAudrey Gelman
Lauren Kassan
DefunctAugust 30, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-08-30)
Headquarters
New York City, New York
,
U.S.
Number of locations
7 (2021)
ServicesShared workspaces, events, and related services for women freelancers and entrepreneurs

The Wing was a women-focused social club and co-working space[1] with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston.[2] It was founded by Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan in 2016.[3][4] As of July 2019, the club had about 10,000 members.[5] At its peak, The Wing had eleven locations in two countries; as of 2021 there were seven branches in the United States.

The Wing initially only accepted people who identify as women or non-binary, but to comply with non-discrimination laws began accepting people of any gender identity.[6]

After complaints about how The Wing failed to address racist behavior of its members, and an employee walkout, Gelman stepped down as CEO in June 2020.[7][8]

On August 30, 2022, The Wing ceased operations. This announcement was issued by email to its members, many of whom took to the company's still-active social media to express disdain about the short notice communication.[9]

  1. ^ "The Wing Shuts Down" Katherine Rosman, The New York Times, August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  2. ^ Louise, J. Q. (June 26, 2019). "The Wing partners with local female chefs for special menu items". Boston Herald. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  3. ^ Jacobs, Sarah (March 1, 2018). "The exclusive no-men-allowed club that raised $32 million from investors like WeWork just opened a brand new location — take a look inside". Business Insider. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  4. ^ "The Wing Investigation: Can a private members' club in New York really be inclusive? — Quartzy". Qz.com. March 29, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  5. ^ Osterheldt, Jeneé (July 31, 2019). "Can a black woman fly at The Wing?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  6. ^ Clark, Kate. "Women's co-working space The Wing adjusts membership policy to allow all genders". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rosman 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference cnn-2020-06-11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Gerstein, Julie (August 30, 2022). "Gone girl(boss): Troubled co-working space The Wing announced it's shutting down, but all anybody cares about is what will happen to its furniture". Insider.