About Leader Networks

Leader Networks is a consulting firm that helps clients create professional peer networks and online executive communities. 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 also offer a full suite of custom research offerings to help identify market readiness and opportunities. Our clients include Cisco, Cognizant, EMC, INmobile, Lexis-Nexis Martindale Hubbell, Optaros, Sermo, and TowerGroup.

About Vanessa DiMauro

Vanessa DiMauro is the president of Leader Networks. A pioneer in business-to-business community building, Vanessa has been creating successful virtual communities and networks for more than fifteen years. With the advent of Web 2.0 and social networking, Vanessa founded Leader Networks to help companies leverage technology for two-way communication and customer care. Vanessa is a popular speaker, researcher and author on the topics of virtual communities, social networking, and Web 2.0 for businesses.

Prior to founding Leader Networks, Vanessa co-founded CXO Systems and created the "Peer Visibility Network," a private, executive community that helped senior executives better understand the Web services movement. At Computerworld, Vanessa founded and ran Computerworld Executive Suite, a premier online membership organization of more than 5,000 CIOs from large organizations. She has also worked for other forward-thinking organizations including Cambridge Technology Partners and Technical Education Research Center (TERC), where she helped shape the role virtual communities play on the Web. She has been publishing research about online communities in academic and popular press for over a decade.

Women in Technology International (WITI) named Vanessa one of  "Boston's Most Influential Women in Technology" and The Advisory Council (TAC) has chosen her as one of their Thought Leaders – leading practitioners who provide guidance on their areas of expertise. Vanessa has led executive education courses at UCLA – Anderson School and University of Miami and has taught Web-centric application development at University of Chicago. She is currently serving on Massachusetts Governor Duval Patrick's Gov 2.0 Committee, which will examine and address the role community and Web 2.0 can play in government.

Vanessa DiMauro