Women currently working in the emergency services have the opportunity to register their interest in a scholarship worth up to £1000 to support participation in an accredited leadership development course.
“Funding must be apportioned by the end of August and it is unsure when these grants will be available again,” said Suzi Finkelstein, Director of Leadership and Advocacy from Women & Leadership International (WLI). “This fee support opportunity provides women with funding of between £800 and £1000 to undertake one of two leadership development programmes.”
Ms Finkelstein said she encourages women working in all aspects of the emergency services, policing and defence sectors right across the UK to consider the scholarship opportunity.
Under the scheme, women are able to enrol and participate in an accredited part-time leadership development course run by WLI. The part-time programmes are blended (partly online, partly face-to-face) and will commence in September and October.
Participants will greatly boost their productivity, become more strategic and give themselves the opportunity to take the next step in their leadership journey. Subjects tackled include elements of a successful team, leadership and authenticity, driving performance and leading innovation and change.
The Women & Leadership Group encompasses WLI, Women & Leadership Australia and Women & Leadership New Zealand, and has been developing female leaders and supporting the increased presence of women in workplace leadership roles for 15 years.
“Based on a simple truth, that women represent an enormously under-utilised resource, we believe that supporting a greater percentage of women to step up into leadership positions enables tremendous cultural and economic benefits,” said Ms Finkelstein. This is especially true for what are traditionally ‘male-dominated’ sectors, such as emergency services.
The Women & Leadership Group offers a range of professional development courses, advisory services, networking channels and ongoing research. Since its inaugural forum in 2004, the group has connected with more than 300,000 women across 10,000 organisations, making it the largest gender-focused leadership initiative in the world. A number of public course offerings are regularly available, as are in-house development programmes for organisations in the public and private sector.
“With so much experience in supporting women, we are ideally positioned to respond to the ever-changing needs of contemporary female leaders and their companies,” Ms Finkelstein said. “Each year, employers across all sectors and industries choose to partner with us to develop the skills and confidence of their female leaders and help provide exciting new career opportunities.”
WLI aims to create experiences ‘for women’ but not necessarily ‘about women’. The courses not only provide best of breed leadership development but immerse participants in an experience informed by the complexities and opportunities of being a female leader today.
Through a deep understanding of the needs of leaders at every stage of their journey, WLI creates a rich and empowering learning environment, which is singularly geared to enabling each participant and organisation to achieve their own unique vision of success.
WLI programmes are designed to engage female leaders in highly interactive, peer-oriented development environments. During each course, activities are undertaken, which develop participant connections; allowing cohorts to develop into tightly knit peer networks. The strong group dynamic which exists within the programmes is fundamental to their success and greatly enhances the learning process.
For more information and to complete an initial Expression of Interest, go to www.womenandleadership.org/emergencyservices or contact Aasia Baraky on 0800 861 1045 or abaraky@womenandleadership.org. Expressions of Interest close on 2 August.
