WACL Launches Latest Talent Mentorship Programme, Reaching More Female Talent than Ever Before

WACL has launched the latest round of its Talent Mentoring Programme, renowned across the industry for supporting the next generation of female leaders into senior leadership roles. A one-of-a-kind initiative, this sees participants get up close and personal with some of the UK’s most experienced and insightful women, each sharing with candour and wisdom their own personal experiences and life lessons. What’s more, each mentee will be able to champion their potential with the support of not one, but four, WACL mentors.

This national initiative involves over 100 WACL members gifting their time. Now in its seventh round, this is the most far-reaching programme to date with over 3,000 hours of mentoring time donated by some of the most inspiring and high impact marcomms leaders in the industry, including Karen Blackett OBE, Dame Cilla Snowball, Helen Calcraft, Lucky Generals founder, Sue Frogley CEO of Publicis Media, Ally Owen founder of Brixton Finishing School, Beth Freedman CEO of dentsu X, Alison Lomax, MD YouTube UK and past and present WACL Presidents including, Nishma Patel Robb, Rania Robinson, Carol Reay, Stevie Spring, Amanda Walsh, Lisa Thomas, Kerry Glazer, Lindsady Clay, Camilla Harrisson, Roisin Donnelly and Tess Alps to name a few.

The four-month programme enables mid to senior-level female leaders to get up close and personal with some of the industry’s most inspiring role models, with the aim of the programme being to inspire women in advertising and give them a forum to discuss barriers to progression in the workplace. Mentees are matched with four mentors, meeting each of them once for a one hour virtual session over four months, while each mentor provides professional and emotional support as well as an independent perspective to support mentees to identify and champion their potential.

Shelley Macintyre, WACL Talent Committee chair and chief brand officer, allplants, added, “We hear how transformative mentorship is for mentees and their mentors and it has never been more crucial to ensure we support the next generation of female leaders in the industry. This time around we have more mentors than ever before. Thank you to each and every one of them for offering their time and enabling us to deliver our farthest-reaching programme to date; impacting even more mentees so positively.”

Shelley explained, “We match each individual with four women whose experience and expertise will enable them to provide professional and emotional support as well as an independent perspective that is invaluable in helping mentees identify and champion their potential. It is a brilliant example of women lifting up other women at many different points in their unique career journeys. She continues: “Women are still woefully under-represented at the most senior levels in advertising and communications. By leading for change, we aim to improve female representation in key roles, address the industry’s persistent gender pay gap, create more inclusive cultures, and ultimately create more equitable and more productive workplaces for everyone. This programme absolutely transformed my mindset and gave me the guidance and confidence I needed to take a step change in my career. The mentors I was lucky enough to be connected with are brilliant and I am still in ongoing contact with some of them. I can't thank WACL enough for running this programme, it has helped me personally and professionally."

The cost of the talent mentoring programme is £100 and £50 for sole traders. All profits are given to charity. Sign up here to secure your place on the waiting list for the next cohort.