Women in View launches Creative Leaders 2012

Pilot program partners media leaders with the next generation of talent.

 

Rina Fraticelli, Executive Director of Women in View, announced today the launch of Creative Leaders, a new initiative aimed at advancing women into senior leadership positions in Canada’s screen-based media industries. Creative Leaders will support partnerships between today’s industry luminaries and the next generation of media leaders.

While this generation has seen progress in certain occupations, women – especially racialized women – are still a rare sight at the top of television, film, digital media and gaming sectors. “Media is a multi-billion dollar business in Canada,” said Fraticelli. “and talent is the fuel that drives it. But the higher up the chain you go, the less likely you are to see the gender and racial diversity necessary to sustain the level of innovation needed in today’s media industries.”

The program invites influential “sponsors” to move beyond traditional mentoring and become active champions of their protégées – accomplished professionals with clear leadership potential. A sponsor uses his or her influence to advocate for their protégée, something which has been more typically offered by men, to men. As Christine Silva, Toronto-based Senior Director of Research for Catalyst put it, “To make it to the top, someone needs to be pulling you up. What matters is how highly placed the mentors are. That means they are in a position to provide more than advice, guidance and to show you the ropes. Someone very senior can provide sponsorship.”

“Creative Leaders will fill a critical gap,“ said media trailblazer, Trina McQueen, Chair of the Creative Leaders jury. The former broadcast executive McQueen leads a prestigious jury that also includes Judy Gladstone, former Executive Director of BravoFACT, and Hussain Amarshi, President of Mongrel Media. “In some areas, like journalism and TV programming, women have been able to make their mark. In others, there’s a definite lag ” McQueen continued, “and even successful women, if they are looking at top jobs in an integrated media industry, need knowledge and skills in new platforms, new technologies and new business models.”

This is the inaugural year of Creative Partners. Between 5 and 10 teams will be provided with the resources to develop and carry out customized plans over 8 months. The deadline for applications is May 22 and successful teams will be announced in early June.  Go here to apply.

WIV ‘s Creative Leaders grew out of an influential international conference, SexMoneyMedia, held in Vancouver in 2010, addressing the dramatic under-representation of women in the top corporate and decision making tiers of our national media industries.