Australian women who run their own businesses or seek professional and personal development now have access to online mentoring and networking 24/7 with the launch of new web-based services by the Australian Women’s Mentoring Network (AWMN).
The services have been developed to meet the demands of busy career and business women, no matter where they live.
AWMN founder Catherine Seton says recent research shows that a combination of mentoring and networking is a robust predictor of both career success and satisfaction, above and beyond either of these activities on their own.
“We have launched www.WomensMentoring.com.au to provide all women with opportunities both to become a mentor and to receive coaching, and extend the reach beyond cities into rural and regional areas,” says Ms Seton, who founded the network in May 2004.
“The AWMN is there for women at the time of day when they can most benefit from it.” said Ms Seton
Ms Seton said that for many women, the only time they have for their own personal development is at the end of a busy day.
“We often find that women are logging on to contact mentors or coaches after midnight,” says Ms Seton. “Because our mentor and coach profiles are online, they are perfect for women living in rural areas, run home based businesses or who don’t have access to a corporate mentoring program.”
The AWMN offers free mentoring and coaching discounts for its members.
“Our mentors show a lot of generosity when it comes to helping others reach their goals,” she adds. “In fact, many of the AWMN mentors have travelled and worked all over the world, and even been part of world events like 9/11 and the Afghanistan conflict.
“Professional and social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are good examples of where informal mentoring can take place. The AWMN takes that one huge step further by encouraging women to connect specifically for mentoring and networking. Our members can connect with any mentor they like and know that that person is there to help them.”
To encourage women to engage in mentoring and networking, professional development events are taking place in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne next week, enabling participants to network and engage in peer mentoring.
For more details on the Australian Womens Mentoring Network visit www.womensmentoring.com.au