As one of two highly placed women execs at Needham Bank, you’d think that SVP for Commercial Lending Stephanie Maiona knows everyone there is to know. But she joined a recently formed group to expand her network: Suburban Professional Women’s Network. She says relationships are among the most important tools for success in commercial real estate. (If you want a job where you don't have to talk to people, go work at a record store.) Needham Bank is actively lending for construction, acquisitions, and refis for regional and national companies. Knowing people she trusts can lead her to another valuable commodity: information about new business. If her relationships are strong enough, she can discuss prospects unworried that she’ll be judged or lose a lead, she says.

Reimer & Braunstein partners Joan Parsons and Susan Davis (flanked by law colleagues Martha Fagan and land planner Melissa Cushing) formed SPWNetwork last fall to help other women advance to the c-suites and boards of corporations and professional firms. Women account for only about 19% of law firm equity partners, Susan estimates. Woman also find it more difficult to raise startup capital for businesses. In Boston commercial real estate, the big investment, development, and management companies have women near the top, but few are owned by women, Susan says.