The hotly awaited eighth Women in PR and PR Week mentoring programme, which has supported over 120 women to date, is now open for applications for the 2021/22 cycle.

The programme lasts for 12 months, starting in August 2021 and involves a minimum of six mentoring sessions, plus ad hoc, discretionary support.

This year’s scheme will be 100 per cent digital, retaining the inclusive, online approach taken last year. By offering remote support at a time when many professionals are still feeling the impact of COVID, it’s hoped that the scheme will maintain strong regional representation and diversity, as well as a mixture of agency, in-house and freelance applications. There are however plans for in-person networking events later this year in London and Wales.

Anna Geffert, President of Women in PR and a former mentee, comments: “The static gender leadership figures at the top 150 agencies and early released gender pay gap figures are the canaries in the mine. A recent survey we conducted showed that 68 per cent of women in PR are worried about opportunities for promotion. Many have undertaken the majority of the caring duties during this pandemic and feel that the opportunities and leadership roles available to senior women are either drying up or have vanished entirely.

“We are so very proud to unveil one of the most impressive and formidable mentor line-ups to date. Our mentors are the crème de la crème of senior leaders across consumer, luxury, corporate and public sectors, who have all volunteered to provide objective career support and guidance. This is key to helping to further our goal of greater female representation at the leadership level in PR and comms for the long-term.”

Laurian Hubbard and Rachel Moss, Co-Presidents, WiPR Cymru commented: “Last year, we launched Women in PR Cymru and one of the highlights was bringing the mentoring programme to Wales. It’s great to be part of this prestigious scheme again, for a second year. We have some stellar Welsh mentors on the UK line up and some ring-fenced places for Welsh mentees. With COVID-19 having a disproportionate impact on women, this mentoring scheme is more important than ever and couldn’t come at a better time.”

The scheme opens for applications today (please click through here) and will close on 10 June 2021. Following a rigorous judging process, conducted by the Mentoring Board (including mentors, mentees, the Women in PR Committee and PR Week), final-stage candidates will take part in a telephone interview, with offers being made in July. Successful applicants will be able to choose whether they are mentored by a male or female mentor.

2021/22 entry criteria:

• Five years industry experience with leadership potential(demonstrable experience to date and signs of being a leader of the future).
• Clarity of career objectives and how access to a mentor will help get you there, including overcoming perceived obstacles.
• Industry engagement with demonstrable effort to engage in key issues and effect change – for example, being an active member of a trade body, or helping/driving new initiatives to help improve our industry).
• Commitment to actively engage in this highly sought-after programme and to drive the scheduling of mentoring sessions.

Catherine Haywood, a 2020 mentee, adds: ” I was delighted to be matched with Doyel Maitra, Group Communications Director and Board Member at Hachette UK. It’s no one’s dream scenario to have their role made redundant during a global pandemic, and I’m so grateful to have been a part of the programme during such a time of transition for me. Without Doyel’s expert guidance I know I wouldn’t have navigated this difficult period in my life so effectively and I’m certain that she played a pivotal part in me securing the role of Head of Marketing and Communications at Medi UK. I would recommend anyone wanting to further develop their career at a senior leadership level to apply today.”

On the 9 June at 5-6.30pm WiPR will host a virtual ‘Meet the Mentor’ panel event for potential applicants to hear more about the scheme and listen to and network with our 2021 mentors.

The 2021 mentor line-up…