How WLI Uses Mentoring to Support Women’s Developmental Leadership
This brief outlines how WLI uses mentoring as a flexible, participant-led tool to support women to lead developmental change. Mentoring provides access to knowledge, advice, networks and real-world experience that can help women pursue their goals and navigate complex change processes. Drawing on lessons from the pilot phase, WLI has shifted from a single, formalised model to an adaptive approach in which participants choose when to engage a mentor, the type of expertise they need, and the duration and form of the relationship. Mentoring now complements coaching, counselling, Leadership Fund projects, internships, the Leadership Lab and the alumni network, forming part of an integrated support system. WLI also recognises the value of peer and Pacific-based mentoring to reduce power imbalances and sustain support within context.