Program Overview
HARNESS YOUR POTENTIAL, MAKE A DIFFERENCE
What makes NAWO’s mentoring program different?
Designed specifically for women and allies working in Operations, the program personally matches mentees with experienced leaders and role models drawn from within the NAWO member base. Mentee-Mentor matches are aligned according to career stage, relevant experience, development and mentoring goals.
- For mentees NAWO’s mentoring program is an investment in your future. They provide a forum for you to learn from inspiring leaders, grow your knowledge and build your network.
- For organisations, NAWO’s mentoring program helps you nurture and grow your valuable talent, giving them access to external mentors through a series of structured sessions that have the potential to profoundly impact their development and future careers.
- Our mentors are volunteers who generously give back and share their time, experience and social capital to help other women and allies create positive change. Volunteering as a mentor gives you great value too, gaining insights from working with individuals from businesses outside of your own, and the experience enables you to lead with a more inclusive lens.
The value of this approach speaks loud and clear, with record numbers signing up for each cohort.
NAWO Mentoring Program: Terms & Conditions
Regardless of gender, the NAWO Mentoring Program fosters personal development and growth and connects mentees and mentors with a wide network of alumni and industry leaders. Through this and the valuable insights and tools it provides to promote inclusion and gender balance, the program has been proven to support actionable change across entire organisations and their systems.
Join these free online sessions to learn more about participating in NAWO’s Mentoring Program in 2026.
Mentee info session: 9th September 2025 Mentor info session: 11th September 2025What our mentors and mentees say
There’s so much to be said for knowledge and experience given freely. Sharing those experiences for my mentees to be able to build upon is truly valuable and I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to do that.
Current NAWO Mentor
Incredibly wonderful outcomes…my mentee got promoted into her dream job, got a F2F with the CEO of the company to talk about how to keep women in the workforce and how to get women to step up into leadership roles.
Current NAWO Mentor
NAWO’s mentoring program has challenged me to be a more considerate leader and better Mentor in my own business.
Current NAWO Mentor
I think it is important that all people have a good mentor, not just specifically operational women. No one person has all the answers, nor the ability to come up with the answers in isolation all the time. A career is a marathon and like all athletes one needs a support crew.
Kartini Oei Aviation Business Development Lead – Asia Pacific, Air BP
I cannot even explain in words how beneficial the NAWO mentoring has been for me. I have been more concentrated on my projects and less a slave to emails, I use strategies to grow my teams skills not take on extra work, I have conversations easily that I once would have procrastinated on, I have self-belief and confidence and set boundaries.
Current NAWO Mentee
NAWO’s Mentoring program helped to shape me into the leader that I am today.
Melita Bevan Asset Support Team Leader, CHEP Australia
(My Mentor) has been extremely supportive and has given a number of development activities to work through to support current challenges.
(He) has been a sound board and given me advice along the way.
Current NAWO Mentee
End-of-Year Mentoring Alumni Celebration
Held in November, the end-of-year event celebrates everyone’s achievements. To get a taste, watch the replay from 2024 held in Melbourne at Amazon CBD.
Highlights included:
– A Welcome to Country from Uncle Bill Nicholson from the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
– NAWOxTalk presentation from our 2024 competition winner Shelley Haslett.
– The presentation of the highly anticipated Conor O’Malley Mentor of the Year Award.
FAQs
Mentees
Q: Am I eligible to participate?
A: If you are a grad, early-career, mid-career or an emerging leader and work in any field of operations, you can participate in the NAWO Mentoring Program.
Industries covered include manufacturing, retail, supply chain, agriculture, transport and logistics, warehousing, wholesale trade, science and technology and utilities.
Mentees can be in any role (engineering, logistics, procurement, sales, customer service, finance, HR, general management, technical).
The NAWO Mentoring Program has options for women working in Operations, including those who are trans, gender and sexually diverse and non-binary.
Q: How will participating in NAWO's mentoring programs improve my career?
A: Mentoring involves a seasoned professional guiding a less experienced individual, providing wisdom, knowledge and support, with a focus on:
- Guidance and advice: Mentors share their experiences and insights, helping mentees make informed decisions and avoid common pitfalls.
- Skill development: Regular interactions focus on both hard and soft skills.
- Personal growth: Mentors help build confidence, self-awareness and resilience.
Q: How much time is expected to be committed to complete the program?
A: An average time commitment of up to 2 hours per month for the duration of the program, which takes place between February (onboarding) – November (end of program celebration) 2026.
Q: I live rurally. Can I still take part?
A: Yes, this is a virtual program delivered online.
Q: Can I choose my mentor?
A: No. NAWO invests considerable time and capability in hand-matching the experience, strengths and skills of our mentors to best meet the objectives of mentees. We are confident that this process will ensure the best outcome for both parties.
Q: Will my mentor be a woman?
A: NAWO mentors are from all genders, across all formats of the program. For 1:1 mentoring, you may add a note if there is a particular gender which you would prefer (and we will do our best in the matching process to honour that request).
Q: What does it cost to participate?
A: As a NAWO member, the program fee is $750 including GST. If your organisation is not a NAWO Corporate Member, you can join as an individual member (with all the broader NAWO membership benefits) for $99.
Mentors
Q: Do I need to be a NAWO member to take part?
A: Yes. You need to be a NAWO member or affiliate to take part in the mentoring program.
Q: What's is the time commitment required to be a mentor?
A: An average time commitment of up to 2 hours per month for the duration of the program, which takes place between February (onboarding) – November (end of program celebration) 2026
Q: Do I need to be a woman to be a mentor?
A: No. Mentors are senior leaders of any gender from the NAWO network with demonstrated operations experience.
Q: Can I choose my mentees?
A: No. NAWO invests considerable time and capability in the ‘matching process’ to best match mentees’ objectives with the strengths of each volunteer mentor. We are confident that this process ensures the best outcome for both parties.
Q: What does it cost to get involved?
A: There is no additional cost to mentors on top of the membership fee.
Q: What sort of experience do I need?
A: You will be a consistent role model of inclusive leadership and have benefited from mentoring during your own career.
You need to be a NAWO member or affiliate, an active advocate for gender balance in operations, and have the capacity and commitment to support mentees for the full program.
You will have a natural ability to build rapport online, to listen and respond with empathy and the willingness to share from your own experience where relevant.
Q: Will I be provided with resources and guidance?
A: Yes, NAWO will support you with resources and guidance.
GEM (Gender Equality Men)
For men who are looking to become even better gender equality allies in the workplace, or want to support gender balance in the industry but don’t know how, the NAWO GEM (Gender Equality Men) Mentoring Program is for you.
Delivered in partnership with Our Watch and by mentors, who are experienced leaders from operational businesses, they volunteer their time to contribute to building a strong pipeline of diverse talent to achieve gender-balanced workplaces.