Overview
Many women take a hiatus during their careers to raise children, care for elderly
or ill family members, immigrate, or due to the death of a spouse. Upon
returning to work, women often face a number of unique challenges: outdated
skills and connections; reduced earning potential; untapped new skills and
interests; and limited awareness or confidence about re-entry into a different
marketplace.
These challenges
sometimes cause
a woman returning
to work to feel
confused and
lack self-confidence
or self-esteem,
so that she may
end up falling "between
the cracks" or becoming underemployed.
Objectives
The Minerva Helping
Women Work™ initiative is a unique career-mentoring
program that supports highly-skilled and undervalued professional women who
feel "boxed in" in their attempts to re-enter the workforce and provide
economic security for their families. The five-month program:
1. Takes up to 20 protégés (program participants) on a specific
career-planning journey, delivered by a team of qualified professional career
counselors, to improve their re-employment skills and define their goals.
2. Mentors offer protégés advice, direction, and contacts. They
are drawn from the business, academic, government and non-profit community. These
mentors help the protégé determine which positions are the best
fit from a personal and industry outlook, and from a labour-market perspective.
3. Each protégé is partnered with a personal career coach who
will guide and support the protégé for 8 weeks through the critical
job-search process.
Programs
MHWW™ Program
for Women over
30 years of age
MHWW™ Program
for Women 20 -
30 years of
age
Results
Industry
professionals and
participants tell
us that the MHWW ™ program
is:
1. Relevant: It
addresses questions
and issues specific
to women returning
to the workforce.
2. Supportive: Women don't need
to go
through this difficult
process alone;
they can work with
a peer-mentoring
group in a supportive
environment. They
can also connect
with industry contacts,
through their mentors,
and networks that
would be difficult
to access a)on
their own or b)through
traditional job-search
clubs and programs.
3. Empowering: Re-employment
is fast-tracked
through skill development
and improved self-confidence.
75% of the women in the past programs have secured employment.
The
Minerva Foundation
for BC Women thanks
our sponsors for
generously supporting this program:
Laura-LeeArmstrong Christina
McLeod
We are very pleased to announce
that the Minerva
Foundation for BC Women has
won two awards for the Minerva
Helping Women Work ™ program
The BC Career Development Award of Excellence is
presented by the Career Management Association of BC to honour inspirational
leadership and excellence in career development in the Minerva Helping Women
Work ™ Program.
2006 Prism
Acknowledgement Award 'Celebrating Excellence
and Business Achievment Through Coaching'
is presented by the Vancouver Chapter
of
the International Coach Federation for
outstanding integration of coaching in
the Minerva Helping Women Work ™ Program.
The Vancouver Chapter
of the International Coaching
Federation has partnered
with the MHWW™ program to provide
professional coaching as a component
of the program. A revolving
team of certified ICF Coaches generously
volunteer their time and expertise
to each goup of proteges.
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Thanks
to our community support:
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