Agitos Foundation launches WoMentoring

“We hope that all of the mentees and mentors will learn and grow over the next two years"

A new project to increase the number of women in key decision-making roles within the Paralympic Movement launches today (Thursday) at the Austrian National Paralympic Committee’s Women in Sport Leadership Summit in Vienna, Austria.

The Agitos Foundation’s WoMentoring Programme, which is dedicated towards helping the Movement achieve its aim of 30 per cent of women in leadership roles, will see 16 mentees and 16 mentors from over 20 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Member Organisations, amongst others, gather in Vienna from 8-10 May.

Tine Rindum-Teilmann, Chairperson of the IPC’s Women in Sport Committee, said:

“Sport can be a difficult area for women to break into and crucially, hold key influential positions within. The IPC has done a great job in doubling the number of female participants in Paralympic Games over the last 20 years, but more work still needs to be done to develop female leaders – as evidenced in last years’ Governing Board elections where only four out of the 27 candidates were women.

“Para-sport in particular is a rapidly growing area and we are determined to set the bar for female leadership high by launching the first WoMentoring kick-off event here in Vienna thanks to the Austrian Paralympic Committee, right near the start of the upward trend in growth.

“We hope that all of the mentees and mentors will learn and grow over the next two years, and gain the tools and knowledge which they can use to continue making their mark in this incredible area of sport.”

The mentors are experienced in a wide variety of sports organisations from both within and outside the Paralympic Movement, including National Paralympic Committees, International Federations, International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled and consultancies, and will meet their mentees for the first time in the Austrian capital.

The mentees meanwhile are equally as varied, from athletes and coaches to secretaries and even some existing board members.

Over three days they, along with their mentors, will attend a series of sessions to start building their mentoring relationship and agree a communication and development plan for the 18-month long mentoring phase, which will include short-term further education. Mentors will in particular learn how to support their mentees in their professional and personal development.

The programme will conclude with a wrap-up event in 2016, where all mentees and mentors will gather to finally assess their individual outcomes.

The launch is being run in partnership with the Austrian National Paralympic Committee’s Women in Sport Leadership Summit and in co-operation with the European Paralympic Committee which features a variety of talks and speeches by university Professors, women from the world of business and sports and athletes, coaches and officials from IPC Alpine Skiing and the IPC Athletes’ Council.

More information about WoMentoring can be found on the Agitos Foundation’s website.