Sallie Krawcheck, the former senior executive at Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., agreed to buy 85 Broads, the global network with 30,000 members that promotes women as business leaders.

Krawcheck is buying the firm for undisclosed terms from its founder, Janet Hanson, a former executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to a statement on the 85 Broads Web site. Hanson will keep an investment stake and become chairman emeritus, according to the statement.

85 Broads, which began on Wall Street and expanded to colleges and universities, arranges networking events for professionals and students, often featuring women with leading roles in their fields. It operates more than 40 regional chapters and campus clubs in more than 130 countries, according to its website.

“Our members are bold, active participants in the economy, and they represent the changing face and shape of business around the world,” Krawcheck said in the statement. “We’re at a tipping point of women’s engagement in the economy, and our community’s ability to play an important role in that is exciting.”

Bigger Role

Krawcheck, 48, is among corporate leaders advocating for increased involvement for women in executive roles. Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook Inc., has been promoting her book “Lean In,” which encourages women to expand their roles in the workplace. Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said this month that women need to pursue more recognition for what they accomplish.

Krawcheck was Citigroup’s chief financial officer and head of strategy, and later ran the New York-based bank’s wealth- management division until late 2008, when she was replaced by Michael Corbat, who is now chief executive officer.

She joined Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America in August 2009 to run wealth management and oversaw more than 15,000 advisers under the firm’s Merrill Lynch brand. She was ousted amid a management shakeup in September 2011 and granted a $6 million severance package.

Hanson left Goldman Sachs after almost 14 years in 1993 and founded the women’s networking firm in 1997. The firm’s name is derived from the address of Goldman Sachs’s former New York City headquarters, according to the website.