Women and Leadership Australia (WLA) has launched its end of year funding for women’s leadership and development within the printing and packaging industry.

The funding grants are currently available to women who work in the print and packaging services sector to support their participation in a professional development program.

WLA is allocating up to $7000 in scholarships available, with the fee enabling women to take part in one of three leadership courses:

• Leading Edge (LE): Modules in supporting leadership performance, effective interpersonal communication and feedback, emotional intelligence and conflict, career and professional growth, elements of a successful team, presence and presentation skills, and leading in times of change.
  
• Executive Ready (WER): Modules in leadership and authenticity, team dynamics, communication, presence and influence, driving performance, leading innovation and change, strategic thinking and organisational learning, as well as purpose, priorities and professional development.
  
• Advanced Leadership Program (ALP): Modules in leading authentically, empowering teams, reinforcing resilience and wellbeing, redefining your role, progressing diversity and inclusion, engaging with challenge and conflict, rewiring your networks, evolving strategic change, communicating with presence and influence, developing a leadership mindset, and creating future focus.

All of WLA’s courses are part-time (approximate time commitment of two hours per week), designed for those already employed and are delivered via a ‘blended’ teaching model – mainly online, with a small component that is delivered face-to-face.

The face-to-face component is held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and are bulked together in blocks to minimise travel and disruption to work. All three courses commence several times each year.

WLA director of leadership and advocacy Suzi Finkelstein said the grants have been provisioned for use by women right across the country, with a specific focus on the print and packaging services industry.

The programs are suitable for junior managers right through to executive level women.

“Any women who are currently working in the print and packaging sector can apply,” she said.

“Criteria for being awarded the scholarship include the applicant’s perspectives on leadership and management in general, their perspectives on their own leadership style, their vision for future leadership within their organisation, their career aspirations and how they see the course assisting with this, and most importantly, their personal situation is such that their organisation and industry will reap the benefits of the applicant’s greater leadership capacity.”

She added that there are different funding levels for different courses but to date, $82,400 of funding has been allocated for the print and packaging sector specifically.

Those that complete the ALP and WER programs are able to gain credit towards the Master of Leadership at Monash University (fully online program). Under the partnership, graduates are able to apply for 12 credit points via specified credit for the leadership studies unit towards the Master of Leadership program. This equates to 25 per cent of the qualification.

“For fifteen years, WLA has been developing female leadership and supporting the presence of women in business and community leadership roles. Prioritising women who work in male-dominated environments such as the print and packaging services sector has been a key component of our strategic impetus to date,” Finkelstein added.

Expressions of interest are being sourced until 22 November via this link.

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