Darkhei Noam is a "Shira Hadasha-style" minyan. The Mechitza is even lower, and women participate heavily.

 I can see how someone who didn't grow up with mechitza could find it alienating, but one way to think of it is that in this world we are almost always in coed environments. Walking into a space that is divided by gender can be a way of signalling a different, holy, or seperate space, as long as the divider is not oppressive.