The Protégé development program matches talented and motivated women with senior executives of any gender and the company says, to date across the world, it has seen “more than 1,200 young women leaders receive one-to-one mentoring, skills building, and networking opportunities with 600 senior executive mentors” - and in 2021, the program will match 40 high-potential female mentees with 40 experienced mentors sourced from among Australia’s most successful corporate leaders, academics, entrepreneurs, and industry trailblazers.

Sara Evans, marketing director, Asia Pacific & Japan, Micro Focus said, “Micro Focus helped bring this program to Australia in 2020 and the feedback was phenomenal. This program is unique, matching mentors and mentees from across various industries and organisations.

“Late last year, the disruption of COVID-19 made it difficult for people working remotely to have the same opportunities to network and meet new people. This program is an innovative way to help people create and maintain connections in new ways, while supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives.”

According to Micro Focus, mentoring is crucial for personal and career development, creating a framework and formalising the mentoring program benefits both mentors and mentees.

“Providing support for participants with interactive development workshops and networking events encourages innovation and offers opportunities for personal and career advancement. Importantly, this program supports organisations that don’t necessarily have the in-house resources available to provide comprehensive mentoring systems, says Micro Focus.

“Mentees benefit from the program in that they learn leadership and business skills, enhancing their self-confidence and resilience. Throughout the program, they will have opportunities to build their own support network of peers and senior executives who will be able to advise them on how to manage their personal and business challenges. Meanwhile, mentors will become practised at mentoring and will be able to open doors for their mentees, giving back to the community.“

Applications to the Protégé Sydney Women Leaders 2021 Mentoring Program are open until 28 February and the program runs until November 2021.