You Can’t Be What You Can’t See
This International Women’s Day it’s SheSays Who’s Your Momma’s
first anniversary and it’s got us all reflecting on how far we’ve come, filling
us with confidence. Diversity - It’s all the rage, and rightly so. We’re
thrilled to have seen so many gender diversity initiatives spring up over
recent times and we believe if we work together, we’re unstoppable.
In this spirit of collaboration we’re very excited to
announce that in 2016 we’ll be supported by WACL, a club for the most senior
and influential women in the industry, who will be helping us expand our
portfolio of distinguished mentors. Both Lindsey Clay, Chief Exec Thinkbox (and
WACL president) and Pippa Glucklich, Co CEO Starcom MediaVest Group (and
incoming WACL president) have signed up as mentors.
We’ve also teamed up with The Great British Diversity Experiment
and rewarded winners with instant mentor access and guaranteed tickets to our
events, which offer our wider network to as many women as possible.
We at Who’s Your Momma think that the single biggest game
changer to the gender diversity issue, is mentoring. You can’t be what you
can’t see. Our mentees can. The Who’s Your Momma mentoring programme and events
are completely free, open to women at all levels, and run by women in the
creative industry on a voluntary basis. Allow us to fill you in on what we’ve
been up to and where we’re headed…
Globally, WYMM has helped over 3,000 women. Our London arm
has paired 80 women in six months, with aims to pair 200 by the end of the
year. We have two mentee requests each day. Our mentor mentee pairing process is
truly tailored; we personally sift through every mentor and mentee to see which
match would be best suited to optimise the benefits of the programme. So it’s a
lot of work for a small team of dedicated volunteers. Our first event reached
capacity within minutes, so we’re planning a whole host more for 2016.
Unfortunately, the countless number of mentees seeking
support, can’t be matched by an equal number of senior mentors. They’re rare.
But we’ve got some of the best:
Cheyney Robinson, Chief Experience Officer, Isobar EMEA
& APAC; Julie Seal, Creative Strategist, Facebook and Instagram; Caroline
Pay, Deputy Executive Creative Director and Managing Partner, BBH, and a
whole host of other fantastic female leaders.
But the demand won’t be satisfied. We need as many senior
female mentors as we can get. Together we can change the face of the industry.
Please follow us @WhosYourMommaUK
by Farihah Ferdous & The WYMM Team.
