MENTORING

#prweekukmentoring

The Women in PR Mentoring Programme was set up in 2014 as a joint initiative with PRWeek UK to identify, nurture and inspire the next generation of female leaders. We are proud that, since its inception, the scheme has supported more than 100 ambitious women from a range of backgrounds, and with an array of career goals and challenges, to achieve their individual goals.

Women can face different challenges to men as they step up the PR career ladder, whether they are working in-house, in an agency or as a freelance practitioner. These include navigating a boardroom often dominated by men, negotiating equal pay or juggling work and family or caring responsibilities.

Our scheme ensures that women can confidently and successfully overcome their unique challenges in order to progress in their careers to achieve their ultimate ambitions. We do this by matching candidates with women who are operating in very senior positions within the UK PR industry.

The mentoring board

The mentoring line-up is refreshed every year to maintain a brilliant, motivated and diverse cohort of industry leaders, both female and male, keen to give back to the industry and support future female leaders. The diverse backgrounds and experiences of our board of mentors allow us to support the very broad range of needs from our mentees.

The Impact

Graduates from the mentoring programme have gone on to secure top level positions in the industry. There is a great community of mentoring scheme alumni and the feedback we receive regarding the impact on individual careers is fantastic. For more information you can read many of their success stories on our blog and social channels.

Programme details

The mentoring programme lasts for 12 months and involves at least six full mentoring sessions plus ad-hoc discretionary support.

The programme is open to female practitioners of public relations who are members of Women in PR with 5 or more years’ experience and/or are working at middle-management or director level or equivalent, who can demonstrate;

  1. Five years industry experience with leadership potential (demonstrable experience to date and signs of being a leader of the future).
  2. Clarity of career objectives and how access to a mentor will help get you there, including overcoming perceived obstacles.
  3. 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).
  4. Commitment to actively engage in this highly sought-after programme and to drive the scheduling of mentoring sessions.

July UPDATE – 2023/2024 PROGRAMME

Women in PR and PR Week Celebrate 10 Years of Mentoring Success, Expands Programme Access, Membership association focuses attention on representation and diversity across creative, corporate affairs and financial communications. 

Women in PR (WiPR), in partnership with PR Week has launched its tenth mentoring scheme – marking a decade of the programme helping female comms professionals tackle barriers to reaching senior leadership positions. The 2023 scheme has a particular focus on supporting representation across creative, corporate, city and financial PR – where gender equity in leadership continues to remain at worryingly low levels. In addition, to mark the programme’s ten-year anniversary – it has been expanded by an additional ten mentors– now a total of thirty industry-leaders.

This year’s scheme will continue to be hybrid – with both in-person and virtual touchpoints – which means more women from across the UK can access this outstanding opportunity. It is hoped that the 2023 programme will attract participants from across the UK and also from diverse backgrounds, as well as be a mix of agency, in-house and freelance professionals. The 30 successful applications will be individually matched with leading communications professionals as a mentor, meeting for at least six, one-to-one mentoring sessions across 12 months. They will also receive ad hoc, discretionary support to maximise the impact and success of their relationship.

The 2023 mentors are all acclaimed PR leaders who volunteer their time and pass on their expertise to future leaders. The scheme helps mentees feel more empowered and, as a result, have the confidence to move forward in their careers – seeking promotion, new skill sets, overcoming personal challenges and building confidence.

How to apply

Applications can be made using this link and applications close on 21 July:

Mentors for the 2023-2024 programme include both returning* and new mentors:
  1. Ali Jeremy, Director of Communications and Engagement, The Royal Parks*
  2. Amy Jones, Creative Director, Hope & Glory
  3. Angela Balakrishnan, Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs, Information Commissioner’s Office
  4. Charli Edwards, Head of Creative, BECG
  5. Clara Biu, Head of PR, Events and Social Impact, Just Eat
  6. Daisy Shepperd, Creative Director, Manifest
  7. Doyel Maitra, Former Group Communications Director and Board member, Hachette UK and freelance consultant*
  8. Effie Kanyua, Former Director of PR & Comms, Hearst UK*
  9. Eleanor Read, Managing Director Health, Edelman
  10. Emily Luscombe, Chief Client Officer, Instinctif Partners Group
  11. Ginny Paton, Managing Partner, Ogilvy*
  12. Hannah Cadwallader, Director of International PR, Airbnb
  13. Helen Mills, Global VP of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Mars Petcare
  14. Jo Chappell, Executive Creative Director, Fever
  15. Jo Ogunleye, B2B Comms Lead, Google
  16. Jo Patterson, Managing Director, Zeno London
  17. Kamiqua Lake, Founder and CEO of Coldr and Black Comms Network
  18. Kat Thomas, Founder and Global Executive Creative Director, One Green Bean
  19. Katy McMillan, Senior Director, Global Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, AstraZeneca
  20. Kirsty Leighton, Founder and Group CEO, Milk & Honey
  21. Martin Fewell, Chief Communications Officer, London Business School*
  22. Mandy Sharp, Founder, Tin Man Communications*
  23. Pam Scobbie, Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer, John Doe
  24. Rachel Bell, Chair, The Academy Media Group*
  25. Rebecca Rhodes, Executive Creative Director (Freelance)
  26. Roxanne Kalha, Founder, The Heard
  27. Satyen Dayal, Managing Director Technology, Edelman*
  28. Stephen Lewis, Senior Managing Director, Global Corporate Affairs, Blackstone
  29. Sarah Brown, Mayoral Director Communications, Mayor of London
  30. Suzanne Morris, Chief Operating Officer, Headland

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