Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), the national, not-for-profit industry association for the independent media agency industry, has announced the launch of its second Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme, which kicked off with a speed networking event in Sydney last night.
The 2024/2025 programme, which follows the successful inaugural programme last year, officially launched with an event at the oOh!media offices in North Sydney on October 30, where drinks and canapes mixed with a speed networking session for this year’s mentors and mentees.
Sydney-based mentees had the chance to interview each of this year’s mentors in a “speed dating” environment, before selecting the top five mentors they would like to be paired with for the programme. The feedback will help guide the final pairings, which are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
This year’s 14 mentors and mentees also heard from IMAA CEO, Sam Buchanan, WeGrow CEO and Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme facilitator Wendy Gower, and oOh!media National Head of Sales – Direct Clients, Independent Agencies and Boutique Agencies, Tim Elder, who is also a 2024/2025 programme mentor.
This year’s Sydney mentors are:
- Belinda Shakespeare, Head of Marketing and Communications at the Susan McKinnon Foundation
- Natalie Harvey, CEO at Mamamia
- Sasha Mackie, Senior Director – Marketing and Communications – Studios + Networks ANZ, at Warner Bros. Discovery
- Elizabeth McIntyre, CEO at OMA
- David Pullinger, General Manager – Independent Agencies and Direct Sales at QMS
- Leanne Cartwright-Bradford, SVP and Head of APAC at Audible
- Jess Roach, Agency Development Lead at Amazon
- Tim Elder, National Head of Sales – Direct Clients, Independent Agencies and Boutique Agencies, at oOh!media
- Helen Black, Head of Connection Planning ANZ at Meta
- Jen Davidson, Managing Partner at Tumbleturn Marketing Advisory
- Jacquie Alley, COO at The Media Store and IMAA Chair
- Natasa Zunic, Head of Marketing and Customer at The GPT Group
- Julie Anne Longano, Founder & Executive Director at Peeps Consulting
- Lizzie Young, CEO at Commercial Radio and Audio.
This year’s successful Sydney mentees are:
- Tara DeLuccia, Murmur Group
- Jesse McColl, Enigma
- Huong Ngyuen, Alchemy One
- Grace de Cruz, Orange Line
- Avika Bhardwaj, Slingshot
- April Maung, Digital Minds Group
- Anna Longson, This is Flow
- Alizee Berger, Benedictus Media
- Berlian Ayudya, Hatched
- Mairead Ryan, Yango
- Amelia Morgan, Awaken
- Sharna King, ARN
- Holly Dobson, JCDecaux
- Sarah Cowie, oOh!media
The Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme offers IMAA members the opportunity to be paired with some of the industry’s top leaders for mentoring and professional development.
The inaugural programme, which launched in August last year, matched 16 media industry leaders with up-and-coming agency talent in a six-month structured mentoring programme, including online and face-to-face sessions, training and meet-ups.
The pilot programme was a resounding success, with all the participants describing the programme as “life-changing,” giving them new-found leadership skills and confidence. Initially designed to address the gender gap in senior positions in the media industry, IMAA CEO,
Sam Buchanan, said the programme was making significant strides in future-proofing the indie media sector. “We are excited to launch the second round of our Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme, with a fantastic line-up of Australian media industry leaders who are generously volunteering their time to help mentor our industry’s up and coming female talent,” he said.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have such a high calibre of senior media executives bringing their expertise, skills and career learnings to this year’s programme – I am certain their insights will be invaluable to our mentees”.
“I watched the Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme with interest when it launched last year and really admired not just the idea to support our future leaders, but also how well the programme was received. I’m so delighted to be a mentor this year and provide the advice and counsel I was lucky to receive on my career journey. I can’t wait to meet my mentee,” said mentor Leanne Cartwright-Bradford from Audible.
“The inaugural Future Leaders of Tomorrow programme was highly successful, both for the participants and the broader media industry. The feedback from mentors and mentees was that the programme was groundbreaking, well-executed and critical in terms of future-proofing the national media sector. The value of the advice provided by our mentors, particularly to women pursuing senior-level careers in media, cannot be underestimated – we’re hoping it helps encourage our industry’s emerging leaders to be confident to take on bigger roles as they continue their careers,” said programme facilitator, Wendy Gower.
The Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme is exclusively available to IMAA members and partners nationwide. It is designed for individuals who currently hold manager/director positions, with a minimum five years’ experience in any media agency discipline.
