The Wing
The Wing was a women-focused social club and co-working space with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston. It was founded by Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan in 2016. As of July 2019, the club had about 10,000 members. 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.
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.
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.
Journalist Amanda Hess reported that many women were drawn to seek employment at The Wing, "eager to work in beautiful spaces and in the company of women." Most of the current and former employees she interviewed were excited to begin but became disillusioned, the 26 employees interviewed citing low pay and mistreatment of Black members of staff. Receptionists and event staff did not expect their jobs to include cleaning duties. At Wing events, employees might "find themselves to be the only Black women in the room," where members and their guests "could be casually racist." Salaried employees were often expected to work extra unpaid hours, while hourly wage employees could not get as much work as they wanted. A spokeswoman said The Wing had always "maintained employment best practices," and CEO Audrey Gelman said that these concerns were being addressed by raising wages, increasing employee benefits, instituting a code of conduct for members, and changing the organizational structure. Gelman resigned in June 2020, and later issued a public apology to staff. Gelman's resignation was followed by a strike by employees at The Wing asking for "sweeping changes to the management" with social media reflecting the opinion that "Gelman's resignation is not enough".