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Three teenage girls standing together ;

King's leading women mentor schoolgirls from across London

15 October 2019

As part of the UN’s International Day of the Girl, King’s teamed up with WOW (Women of the World) to mentor over 100 schoolgirls from across London.

Seven inspirational and leading women from across King’s took part in speed mentoring sessions held in the Coca-Cola London Eye, joining 180 girls high up in the sky to discuss the joys and challenges of being a girl.

The Mentors

  • Baroness Deborah Bull, Vice President & Vice Principal (London)
  • Professor Rosie Campbell, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership
  • Anne-Marie Canning, Director of Social Mobility & Student Success
  • Julie Devonshire OBE, Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute
  • Julia Gillard, Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership
  • Hana Riazuddin, PhD candidate, Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy
  • Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President & Vice Principal (International)
When I was 16, I had no access to resources that might have helped me to think better about my skills and future. I would have loved to have asked a few people about what I could do with my future. There are two things that I didn’t learn until I was in my thirties and I wish someone had told me these things years earlier; girls can do anything and be more confident. I mentored today so that girls know these two things in their teens rather than in later life, and accelerate their futures.– Julie Devonshire

Tackling gender imbalance 

King’s has participated in a number of events over the years which aim to inspire girls to reach out and achieve their dreams. To tackle the current gender imbalance and encourage more female entrepreneurs, we started a three-year long Women Entrepreneurs Programme (WEP) alongside the King’s20 Accelerator Programme, with a key aim to ensure that half of the ventures on the Accelerator Programme are women-led.

This WOW event offered the 14 – 18 year old schools from across London, including 20 schools from Lambeth and Southwark, the unique opportunity to be paired with 180 successful women mentors from across a wide range of professions and industries including film, media, engineering, education, sport, politics, science, finance, transport and fashion.

 

WOW mentoring event

Each schoolgirl shared their aspirations and asked advice from three different mentors while enjoying the spectacular views across London. 

The event was followed by a reception and conversation with WOW’s founder Jude Kelly CBE exploring the theme of championing amazing girls and women who have made changes in their communities and beyond, and inspired others to do the same.

It’s really important that we take the time to share our insights and experiences with young people at the beginning of their career choices. The conversations with the pupils were enjoyable and gave me a window into the aspirations and barriers young people face in getting a good start in life. The event was inspiring and I found myself networking with fellow mentors!– Anne-Marie Canning

About International Day of the Girl 

Since 2012, 11 October has been marked as the International Day of the Girl to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. To date, WOW has reached over two million people in 17 countries on six continents.

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