Follow a Leader™

The Follow A Leader™ program addresses the leadership development challenges faced by women in the early stages of their careers. The purpose of this program is to introduce emerging leaders to successful female leaders in their fields, providing networking and mentorship opportunities with recognized leaders in the community. It pairs ‘emerging leaders’ within the first 3 to 7 years of their careers with established leaders from the business, government, academic and community sectors for a two-part series of leadership training workshops and job-shadowing experience.

Specifically, this program seeks to accomplish the following objectives:

To provide a forum for emerging leaders to experience different leadership styles and explore networking opportunities with successful women in diverse fields.
To profile senior women – business, government and community leaders and facilitate conversations between community and emerging leaders in the areas of leadership development.
To provide a vehicle for good corporate citizens to support leadership development and advance opportunities in all facets of society for women in British Columbia.

The lessons learned and the relationships forged over the duration of the program have a ripple effect in the participant’s environment, giving participants access to resources they may never otherwise have experienced.

Since 2003, more than 240 leaders and emerging leaders throughout BC have benefited from this innovative leadership development experience. The skills learned and contacts made have helped many emerging leaders develop their personal leadership style, set career and personal goals and in many cases develop a long-term mentoring relationship.

Read more about the program details and application process.

Follow A Leader™ continues to grow in popularity and takes place annually in Vancouver and Victoria. Contact the corresponding branch office for further information.

When I moved to Canada in 1998, I was pregnant and all alone. I was scared as to how I would take care of my daughter without a decent standard of education. I realized that without English I would be useless so I focused on improving my English by attending ESL classes at Vancouver Community College. When my English level improved, I was confident enough to go for science courses. And in 2003, the Minerva Foundation offered me the Minerva Foundation Award For BC Women in recognition of my excellent grades at school.
This scholarship changed my life as it offered me the opportunity to take post secondary course. Then when I entered the Licensed Practical Nursing Program in 2006, I faced financial problems. Again, it was Minerva that helped me with funds to solve my financial problems. Now I am working as an LPN and have solid hopes of furthering myself in this field.
Thanks so much to Minerva for giving me a life of hope. Thank you so much Minerva for helping me by believing in my abilities.

Sasiratha Uthayakumar, LPN