About Leader Networks

Leader Networks is a research and consulting firm that helps clients create social strategies and online communities for business. We help our clients harness the power of new digital rules and tools to drive measurable business benefits, including increased revenue, productivity, and customer loyalty; decreased costs and cycle times; and the ability to engage business buyers as co-creators in the product/service development lifecycle. Leader Networks provides a full suite of services for all stages of networking and community development – whether it's defining a Web 2.0 strategy, breathing new life into an existing network, or building a community from the ground up.

We offer a full suite of research offerings to help identify market readiness, member needs that can be used to create a social strategy or professional community and member survey research to inform a social strategy best practice.

Our clients include Cisco, Cognizant, EMC, LexisNexis, Martindale-Hubbell, Palladium Group, SAP, Sermo, WBUR and WEGO Health.

About Vanessa DiMauro

Vanessa DiMauro is the CEO of Leader Networks;  a research and consulting firm that helps clients create social strategies and online communities for business. A pioneer in business-to-business community building, Vanessa has worked with some of the world's largest brands and organizations to create winning social strategies and successful online communities. Vanessa is a popular speaker, researcher and author on the topics of online communities, social and professional networking, and Web 2.0 for business.

With a research background, Vanessa takes the approach of a cultural anthropologist to help businesses effectively use social media to get closer to their customers, generate revenue, innovation and tangible ROI. She has founded and run leading online professional communities such as Cambridge Information Network (CIN) for Cambridge Technology Partners and Computerworld. She consults with many organizations on Web 2.0 for business and has a blue chip client list which includes Cisco, Cognizant, EMC, LexisNexis, Palladium Group and SAP.

Vanessa DiMauro is Executive-In-Residence at Babson College, for the Olin School of Management and a Senior Research Fellow for The Society of New Communications Research. Women in Technology International (WITI) named Vanessa DiMauro one of "Boston's Most Influential Women in Technology". She holds both a B.A. and an M.A. from Boston College.

View her LinkedIN profile here >

About Joseph Vito

Joseph Vito is Partner, Technology Strategy, at Leader Networks. Joe works with clients to guide the social business technology implications for new social media efforts within organization and provides the strategic integration frameworks to ensure social solutions integrate and leverage existing enterprise infrastructure most effectively. 

Joe has over 20 years of experience in Technology, Joe is former Chief Technology Officer for Dun & Bradstreet and has held strategic technology positions at Merrill Lynch. He has significant experience  leading global centers of excellence in the areas of Technology Strategy, Program Management, and Technology & Product Reengineering. His core focus is driving excellence across business functions to deliver a better customer experience.

View his LinkedIN profile here >

About ryck lent

Ryck Lent is Partner, Content and Community Strategy, at Leader Networks.  An online community veteran with over 15 years of product development and implementation experience, he has worked with a wide range of organizations including: AARP, the AFL-CIO, the Democratic National Committee, portal services firm iBelong/Verlytics, Mainspring Communications, Monster.com. Ziff-Davis' ZiffNet and ZDNet.

Among other accomplishments, Ryck pioneered downloadable software demos, weekly tech news interviews and a distance learning initiative at ZDNet; introduced social networking for early Web experts at Mainspring; created social networking affinity groups at iBelong/Verilytics and rebuilt Monster.com's job seeker online community.  Prior to his work with online communities, Ryck was a successful newspaper and magazine publishing entrepreneur.  He earned a BA from Antioch College and a Master's in Public and Private Management from Yale University's School of Management.

Joseph Vito, Partner, Technology Strategy

Ryck Lent, Partner, Content and Community Strategy