The Female Cross-industry Mentorship Program 2021-22 and 2022-23

The Background

The discussion on how to strengthen female leadership in Southeast Asia emerged as a topic at SwedCham's Regional HR Managers' Forum. Despite the topic being a priority within most organisations, many are struggling to make progress. Female representation in top leadership positions in most  Swedish companies in Singapore is still low and the pace of change is painfully slow. For this reason, the idea of creating a mentorship program to support up-and-coming female leaders in a cross-industry setting was born.

The initiative

In October 2021, SwedCham Singapore launched a pioneering cross-industry female mentorship program aimed at up-and-coming female leaders in middle management positions among our member companies. 

Developed by SwedCham’s People and Culture Committee, this initiative supports women business leaders within our community with the following vision: 

✔ Create a solid cross-industry network and a professional sounding board for female rising

stars in SwedCham’s business community

✔ Raise the bar for female leadership development in Singapore

✔ Promote Swedish leadership values and strengthen ties between Swedish companies in

Singapore.

During the two years of running this program, SwedCham has had over 50 mentees and 16 mentors from 17 member companies onboard the two cohorts. The program has received many accolades from the companies involved, especially for its cross-industry setting which opens up a safe space to share and learn for both mentors and mentees.