Global Women in PR (GWPR) – the global networking organisation for women in senior roles in PR and communications – has launched EMPOWER, an exclusive program for a carefully selected group of 25 mid-career women, providing a combination of cross-border mentoring, learning and profile building.
The new program will run throughout 2022 and 25 of the most successful global female leaders in PR and Communications have signed up to be mentors, including Jagruti Mistry, Senior Director and Head of Corporate Communications for GCC and NALP at Visa and founding Member of Global Women in PR MENA.
GWPR research in 2020 revealed that the global PR industry is two-thirds female, but men still hold 64 per cent of seats in the boardroom, with only a handful of women CEOs leading global agencies and the vast majority of corporate communications heads being male.
Women also still experience bias in the workplace, and although functional knowledge is gained through experience, there is still a lack of opportunities to acquire the business skills required to lead and run a business.
Coupled with this, PR careers can often be a series of job/role changes in response to a current situation rather than an intentional process, and female careers can be disrupted due to family responsibilities.
GWPR MENA Chair Rachel Dunn commented: “Despite the large number of women in PR and communications roles in the region, not enough are making it to senior leadership positions. We know from our GWPR Annual Index survey that one of the most important ways to help break down barriers to the boardroom is to have more senior women as role models. Our EMPOWER program is a step in the right direction, and I believe it will make a real impact on the careers of our mentees, in addition to providing reverse mentoring opportunities for mentors. Our goal is to build the program in the coming years and help create a talent pool of sought-after and empowered global female leaders.”
Jagruti Mistry added “I’m so proud to be part of this global mentoring program dedicated to women striving for excellence in the PR and comms world. Mentoring plays such an important role in helping prepare women for leadership roles, and the fact that this is a cross-border initiative will enable mentees to tap into expertise and insights from some of the world’s most successful female leaders in the industry. I’m looking forward to getting started and understanding the mutual challenges and different perspectives that our international community brings.”
Mid-career PR women who are interested in applying to become a mentee have until 30th November https://forms.gle/VmXic1w2dcQHSWZaA.
For more information on becoming a member of Global Women in PR MENA, visit MENA – GWPR (globalwpr.com)
