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There is a steady increase in the number of women who are beginning to occupy top management roles in career, business, and government and are to dominate fields that have hitherto been exclusive male-dominated preserves. As women continue to advance up the ladder, it has become very important for women to reproduce themselves and ensure that the successes they have achieved are sustained and even improved upon. To achieve this, women must develop the kind of mentoring relationships that have enabled their male counterparts advance in their careers. Supportive mentors are critical components of a successful career, particularly in its early stages. Building such relationships, however, is trickier for women than for men for several reasons. This gap created by the lack of adequate structures in place to connect women role models in high management positions with upcoming women is what this Women mentoring Women initiative seeks to address. Research has shown that mentoring can significantly enhance income and promotion possibilities for individuals experiencing these relationships. Mentoring awareness can reduce barriers to women’s career advancement, tenure and pay amongst other things. Over the years, cross gender mentoring relationships have been helpful to an extent but in many cases, it has also led to several complexities that often limit their usefulness. Yet the seemingly obvious alternative of women mentors often appears to fall short of its promise. The objective of this initiative is therefore to explore mentoring opportunities senior women mentors provide to their mentees and identify mentoring limitations women face. We hope to create an environment/forum where like-minded women can freely share their thoughts, ideas, experiences and resources about female growth and development in the corporate and business world. We will also seek to provide a platform for women to bond and network as well as for handholding, where the need arises. Additionally, we hope to achieve the following:
  • Attain desired career trajectories and fulfill their maximum potentials
  • Help women improve their Leadership skills
  • Achieve work / life  balance
  • Groom and develop their confidence
  • Learn public speaking / presentation skills
  • Hone their people skills
We will organise programs such as : Leading Women Speaker Seminars This will be a breakfast type setting programme spanning over a 3 hour period where women achievers and leaders will be invited to a panel discussion to discuss matters relating to women in corporate / business or politics. We plan to hold these events twice a year. Women in the Boardroom This programme will be organised twice a year for corporate women who aspire for a chair on the board. We will invite women who are / were chairpersons or board members to share with the younger women how they made it and also to share how to navigate the boardroom maze. This will be a seminar type / Question and Answer session that will span three to four hours International Women’s day We will organise a women’s day event on or around the 8th of March every year to celebrate womanhood. Programmes will be in different formats per annum. Women mentoring Women series This will be quarterly programmes organised per industry / sector where accomplished women in certain fields will be invited to share success secrets with upcoming women in similar fields in a seminar / discussion setting. World Conference of African Women Professionals Riding on the success of the African Women Professionals Breakfast Meeting held April2017, as an offshoot of the CIBN World Conference of Banking Institutes, we hope to make this initiative an annual African event.
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This article was first published on 3rd November 2017

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