New Executive Leadership Program To Help Women Move Up

Caitlyn Coverly, Special to Financial Post | 13/06/27

In 2010, Carolyn Lawrence began speaking with clients about what it would take to help women reach senior-level management positions in Canada’s top companies. As the President and CEO of Women of Influence Inc., an organization dedicated to the growth and advancement of women, Ms. Lawrence was surprised by the answers received.

“These organizations had gender diversity programs in place,” said Ms. Lawrence. “They had internal networks for women, yet nothing was working.”

Ms. Lawrence did, however, notice an important trend regarding professional development and education. She said the women she spoke to weren’t self-selecting traditional certificate or MBA programs for one of two reasons: they were already stretched too thin between work and family life to take on another full-time project, or a lack of confidence prevented them from asking for corporate sponsorship to support the hefty price tag associated with these programs.

“It became clear to us that we needed to create an opportunity for women to have access to professional development in a different model,” said Ms. Lawrence.

Fast-forward to 2013 and the Women of Influence Advancement Centre, under the guidance of Ms. Lawrence, has partnered with the Queen’s School of  Business to offer professional women an Executive Certificate in Leadership, a six-course curriculum combining topics that promote proactive business leadership. Read full article<<