The mentoring project "Female Leaders of Tomorrow," which seeks to encourage inclusion and diversity in the media industry, launched on August 1, 2023, according to a release from the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA). The programme, which will be held in Sydney and Melbourne, will feature senior marketing executives as well as executives from significant media firms. They will guide and support aspiring female media executives.
The six-month curriculum seeks to establish a network of support for seasoned industry experts and up-and-coming female media agency executives. In Sydney, mentors include Cathy O'Connor, CEO of oOh!media, Lauren Joyce, Chief Strategy & Connections Officer at ARN, Nikki Rooke, Director of Sydney Sales at Nine, and other well-known people. The mentors in Melbourne include Peter Whitehead, the Chief Commercial Officer of ARN, Andrea Salmon, the National Head of Audio Sales at SCA, and a number of other esteemed individuals.
Cathy expressed her support for the initiative while pointing out that more has to be done to promote diversity and inclusion in the media sector. The IMAA's commitment to this programme is consistent with their mission to lessen inequality in the media landscape and increase the representation of women in leadership roles.
The course will be overseen by Wendy Gower, the trainer and coach behind WeGrow, which focuses on mentoring for the communications industry. Gower underlined the need of providing future female leaders with access to the advice and help of powerful businesses in order to empower and develop them.
Women make up a small minority of CEOs in Australian corporations, according to data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and there is a gender gap on corporate boards as well. In order to remedy this, the IMAA's "Female Leaders of Tomorrow" project supports more women in senior leadership roles in the independent media sector.
The IMAA's CEO, Sam Buchanan, stressed the significance of this initiative and called it the most significant since the Diversity Council was founded in 2022. He expressed his gratitude to the mentors who voluntarily gave their time and expertise to support the program's mentees.
On September 5 in Sydney and September 12 in Melbourne, networking events will be held in the oOh! headquarters as part of the program's official launch. The IMAA's commitment to fostering and assisting a new generation of female leaders in the media industry is projected to enhance long-term company performance.
