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Females in the business world still need just as much encouragement and mentorship as ever, as Bentley executive-in-residence Toni Wolfman pointed out — with some staggering statistics about encouragement, mentorship, and skills/ambition perception from our recent PreparedU study  — in a recent Fast Company article.

Turns out, there has also been a “secret society for high-achieving women” called the Committee of 200 (or C200 for short) at work since 1982, originally formed by a cabal of successful businesswomen, including former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. Quietly recruiting members and protégés to the group that now numbers almost 450 — including 52 members who serve on corporate boards, occupying 69 total board seats within the 2014 Fortune 500 — C200 was created as an organization that can motivate women among their peer group and give others something for which to strive.

“You need encouragement in every place in life,” said C200 organization chair Gay Gaddis. “Every place you go, you have to have someone. We want to do something to make sure that the next generation of women has a leg to stand on and a start. We have to continue to fight the fight and keep moving our own careers so they have a light ahead of them to keep coming.”

To read more about C200, its membership, mission, Protégé Program, and history, go to FastCompany.com

April Lane is a freelance writer.