Global Mentoring Network for Aspiring Leaders

Expand Your Leadership Skills to Advance Your Career in Girls’ Schools via a Global Network

Girls’ schools have always been incubators for future leaders. Among the guiding principles of the Coalition is to “inspire the next generation to lead with courage, competence, and empathy.” While this work has typically been focused on the girls and young women our schools serve, it is equally important to create opportunities for a diversity of aspiring leaders to explore and prepare to lead schools for girls.

The Global Mentoring Network for Aspiring Leaders, offered in partnership with Bright Field Consulting, builds upon a proven mentorship model developed in the UK. Of the over 100 women and men who have taken part in the program between 2017 and 2021, more than 50% have achieved the leadership promotions they desired as a result of their participation. In the current cohort 10% have already won promotion.

“Having a mentor has made such a difference to me, it’s added impetus…It has made me more reflective, more outward looking.” —Former Program Participant


Program Components

  • Personalized, one-on-one feedback about individual style and strengths using the Insights Discovery psychometric questionnaire.
  • Four confidential meetings with a dedicated mentor. Mentors are non-educators who have enjoyed successful high-profile careers in a diverse range of organizations, including Microsoft, REI, Santander Bank, Barclays Bank, and a number of public sector bodies.
  • Virtual gatherings with fellow mentees to network, share ideas, and hear from experts in the field.
  • A community project (optional) in which mentees from different countries will be partnered with one another. The aims of the project are for mentees to (1) work together to solve an ill-defined problem of the sort which Heads of School/Principals regularly encounter, and (2) consider how to implement the project in a context with which they are unfamiliar. View samples of past topics.
  • Participation in the ICGS Conference (optional), June 26-28, 2023, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. (Mentees will receive a steeply discounted registration rate.)

Participants will also have access to a private LinkedIn group to network and communicate and will receive an e-copy of The Magic in the Space Between: How a Unique Mentoring Programme is Transforming Women’s Leadership. Click here to download the first chapter.


“The Global Mentoring Network for Aspiring Leaders was a great opportunity for me to personally reflect on my leadership style and how I can develop personally and professionally. I loved the opportunity to network and collaborate with a fellow NCGS member school in Australia on an action research project, even though we are half a world apart we still can work together to improve the lives of our students.” —Former Program Participant


Time Commitment

The time commitment for each mentee for the full program is approximately 2-3 days for each mentoring session (assuming a day of preparation/follow up time) and 8-10 days total for the community project. Please note the program spans an entire calendar year and that most meetings will occur via Zoom or an equivalent platform.

Click here for a full timeline.


Nominations

The mentoring network is open to women and men in academic or administrative roles who are interested in school leadership (e.g., head of school/principal or senior administrator). Interested applicants can self-nominate or be nominated by their current Head of School/Principal. The deadline to receive nominations is May 20, 2022.

Nominate yourself or a colleague now!


Program Fee

  • $850 USD per participant

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Ian Wigston, Co-founder of Bright Field Consulting.

“The mentoring program for me was enlightening and life changing. The program made me feel valued, supported, worthy, and listened to. At a time of huge self-doubt and confusion and frustration, it provided a forum for self-evaluation and spurred me on to make small positive changes that brought subsequently huge positive momentum. I owe the program so much and will be always indebted to how it helped change my life for me professionally, but also personally, as the changes have improved the quality of life with my children, too.” —Former Program Participant