We often hear about mentorship or sponsorship programs for companies looking to increase representation as a part of their DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — initiatives.

But how do you know which program is the best fit for your organization?

Inspired by our conversations with hundreds of HR, DEI and People leaders of distributed teams, we discuss how to close the gender gap in leadership through a structured, scaleable mentorship or sponsorship program.

For this episode of the Inclusion in Progress podcast, we’ll go over:

• Why mentorship and sponsorship are different and why choosing the right one matters for increasing representation on your teams

• How mentorship or sponsorship programs are being optimized by some of our client partners and organizations we’ve collaborated with

• Our best practices for how to develop a mentorship or sponsorship program in a distributed work environment

At Inclusion in Progress, LLC, we’re deeply committed to empowering others to walk the talk when it comes to inclusion. Which is why we’re pleased to continue sharing our 2024 whitepaper: “How Cybersecurity Companies Can Retain, Promote & Advance Women to Minimize the Gender Gap”.

The whitepaper is a result of our January 2024 roundtable discussions with cybersecurity leaders at Broadcom, Cisco, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks are doing to promote and advance women in their organizations, and enable more women’s advancement into leadership.

To download our latest whitepaper, head to https://inclusioninprogress.com/learn.

TIMESTAMPS:

[3:15] Defining mentorship and sponsorship, and highlighting their different functions.

[5:57] How sponsorship and mentorship programs can increase productivity and diversity in leadership pipelines.

[8:57] How distributed environments create opportunities for launching mentorship/sponsorship programs.

[14:38] Why sponsorship programs are necessary for emerging leaders with untapped potential.

LINKS:

info@inclusioninprogress.com

www.inclusioninprogress.com/podcast

www.linkedin.com/company/inclusion-in-progress

Download our 2024 Whitepaper: "How Cybersecurity Companies Can Retain, Promote & Advance Women to Minimize the Gender Gap"

Want us to partner with you on building more inclusive distributed work? Get in touch to learn how we can tailor our services to your company’s DEI and remote work initiatives.

Read our Forbes features on Ways to Support Employee Mental Wellbeing, What Self Care Looks Like For Us, and How to Create Effective Online Diversity Training.

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