Transcultural mentoring for and by women in creative sectors

To grapple with gender inequity, this peer-mentoring program over 18-months focuses on learning, self-awareness and relationship building. Extending the learnings from a 3-month pilot program, we invited women-identifying practitioners from Australia, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, to develop their own priority areas of personal and professional growth. In contrast to many leadership training that emulate western focus on individual skills and abilities delivered through set content, our program is grounded in relationships, cultural assets, mutual learning and support. To overcome barriers in distance, language and assumptions, we spent time building thick relationships through gifts-exchange and meeting women where they are to ensure safety and comfort. We respected cultural seniorities and life-experiences, not power hierarchies, and invited them to learn and grow at their own pace. At the heart of this is care, kindness, generosity that led to friendships. By validating everyone’s contribution we achieved shared ownership in approach, understanding and outcomes, that enabled women to strengthen connections, broaden landscapes, gain legitimacy and build further confidence. Impact as personal transformation were witnessed during the in-person gathering in Bangkok, where we all came together to reflect on and celebrate our achievements.