The highly successful Elevating Women’s Voices program is back once again in 2026 - Do you want to be a participant or mentor?

Over the last 4 years the “Elevating Women’s Voices” program has seen more than 230 participants, and 70 mentors come together for formal group sessions, mentoring sessions and an opening and closing event over an 8-week period.

This year, we are once again improving and expanding the program further in Melbourne and are looking for both mentors (female and male) and participants. 

We would like to invite all interested parties to an information gathering webinar to be held on February 25^th from Midday to 1pm (Sydney time).

Please note, the program is only available to staff members of AIMA and ACSA members.

It is provided free of charge due to the generosity of our Sponsors and Partners.

2026 Elevating Women’s Voices Program Overview

Created as a result of the shortage of women available to speak to and on behalf of the finance industry, this program aims to:

• Provide support, guidance, confidence and opportunities to enable our highly competent and capable women to contribute more actively in a variety of settings
• Provide the Australian business community with a wealth of female voices, opinions and approaches to creating, managing, and transforming industry conventions.
• Encourage more active participation in the Financial Services Industry by deepening the pool of women speakers willing to drive conversations across the industry.

Please refer to the attached deck to learn more about the program.

2026 applications for Mentor and Participant Nominations will open February 25^th and close March 18^th ( if not earlier).

Mentors

We are looking for 20+ mentors in Sydney & Melbourne (numbers dependent on participant numbers), both women and men who have had extensive experience as a public keynote speaker, panel moderator, panelist, presenter, chair, or interviewer to work with a group of women within the program.  Mentors will work in pairs with a group of 4-6 participants, helping participants put into practice and build on the skills that are discussed in the group training sessions.  We are looking for people who can drive the objectives and impact of the program by bringing their passion and enthusiasm to support our participants.  Responsibilities include:

• Attending the training sessions, and ideally the launch and closing events outlined below,
• Co-leading the four mentor sessions,
• Liaising with the Elevating Women’s Voices committee on any questions, suggestions, and feedback

Participants

Are you, or do you know women with ~5-10+ years’ experience in their field, who are not yet experienced public speakers but are keen to start or accelerate their communications skills journey?  We are looking for nominations from right across the industry to participate in this year’s program.  You are welcome to nominate yourself or someone you believe would benefit from this program.  These women could be portfolio managers, investment analysts, risk managers, investors, allocators, investment consultants, in investor-facing roles, operational functions or any other non-investment function.  Participation is free (for AIMA, 100WF & ACSA members) and participants must commit to participating in the full program outlined below, be prepared to give public speaking a go, and be willing to provide feedback to help us evolve and improve the program for future cohorts.  We are capping the program at 60 participants this year (in Sydney) & a similar number in Melbourne. Please note that the program is Provided free of charge due to the generosity of our Sponsors and Partners.

If you are interested or know someone who should be considered as a mentor or participant, please ask them to join the webinar.