Launching the PRWeek/Women in PR mentoring programme, 2019/20
This is the third year that George and I have been on the Women in PR Committee and it is a fantastic way to give back to the industry that we've enjoyed working in for 20 years. Women in PR is a PRCA working group founded to empower women in the UK PR industry and create more female leaders. Part of this is the mentoring programme we run in partnership with PRWeek, which George and I have been running since last year. We launched next year's scheme last week and encourage you to apply, if you fit the criteria. Details below!
From Friday 15th March until the closing date of 29th March, Women in PR and PRWeek are inviting women working in the UK PR industry who have five years’ experience in PR to apply for a place on our mentoring scheme, starting June 2019 until May 2020.
Full entry criteria as follows:
● Minimum of five years in PR
● Must be currently working in a pure PR role
● Must have some line management experience in a current or recent position
● Must be available to attend PRWeek photo shoot in London on pm of 15th May
● Must be prepared to become a member of Women in PR and to contribute at least one blog post for the WPR website during the year-long programme
The scheme has been running since 2014 and 75 women will have completed the programme by the end of May 2019. We receive applications from candidates with a huge array of experience and backgrounds, all with high aspirations. They recognise that they will benefit from experienced counsel in order to get to the next level, whether they are at middle management level in agency, or perhaps a PR manager working in-house.
We have a fantastic wealth of experience within our mentoring board, which this year includes four new faces:
· Doyel Maitra, Head of Communications, MoneySupermarket
· Emily Morgan, MD, consumer, the Red Consultancy
· Michele Moore, Senior PR Manager, Capgemini
· Sarah Samee, Head of Communications, CIFAS
The full mentor list is below. We have built the board to reflect the UK PR community, with a broad mix of industries, backgrounds and organisational experience to bring to bear on our mentees’ challenges.
Mentee alumni include Zoe Melarkey, formerly head of PR for npower and now head of communications at Purplebricks, who says, “It was fantastic having a mentor who was outside of my organisation and as such could give me perspective, which is very difficult to obtain from peers and sponsors within your own business. Jennifer also has two boys like me and was able to be highly empathetic regarding juggling a big job and family life. I was impressed by how closely the WPR committee matched me with a mentor who was right for me, given she was also another female leader in a very male-dominated industry.”
To apply you simply need to answer 10 simple questions, and send us two written references. Visit the Women in PR blog to see who is on our mentoring board for 2019/20 and full details of how to apply.
@WIPRUK
@prweekuknews
@nickyregazzoni @georgeblizzard