Just days away from the launch of her first book, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and a group of fellow women entrepreneurs have launched LeanIn.org, the companion site to Sandberg’s book which, in Sandberg’s parlance, aims to become a sort of “global community to encourage women to lean in to their ambitions.”

Co-founded by Sandberg, serial entrepreneur Gina Bianchini, Debi Hemmeter and Rachel Thomas, the site will operate as a startup, with a full-time staff of four members who will continuously work on the site, updating and launching products as necessary.

The idea goes hand-in-hand with the major theme of Sandberg’s book, which “contains practical advice for women — and the men who want to help them — on how to lean in and close the gap” between the two, which Sandberg told AllThingsD previously.

The site’s appeal hinges on three primary features: A community section, where folks are encouraged to share stories on how to achieve their goals, an education section which offers free online courses, and “Circles,” which are smaller, more intimate gatherings both on and offline for people who want to dive further into the program.

While Sandberg’s book is all but guaranteed to be a best-seller with all the publicity leading up to the launch, there are no guarantees the other Web site and organizational component of the plan will take off. It all depends on how well Sandberg and company can foster a community (which strikes me as somewhat funny, given her Facebook-ian background).

The site is live now for all to see and visit, here, and the book will be released next week.

Categorised as: Chief Digital Officer | Digital Media | Feedster

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