What's it all about?
Through our free mentoring programme, Cultivate Mentoring Lab supports early career women to navigate the modern work place, in particular the structures that make it harder for women to access equal opportunities and equal pay.
There are many mentoring programmes for senior executives seeking to progress to governance positions, but few aimed at bringing young women to a place where they are eligible for such programmes. We won't grow the number of women in leadership and governance if we don't support them to progress at the same pace as their male counterparts right from the start of their careers.
Cultivate offers mentoring to early career women, in all organisation types. We welcome enquiries for mentoring from women who are self-employed, in new and small organisations and in very junior roles - every woman deserves equal opportunity to progress.
Mentoring through Cultivate focuses on five key areas:
- Salary - negotiating what you're worth
- Learning and development - getting access to opportunities to grow
- Promotions - successfully pitching yourself for your next step
- Personal brand - managing your professional reputation in and out of the workplace
- Workplace conduct - how to address discrimination and harassment
We want to see all women in work achieve equality. Cultivate is our contribution to this fight.
Cultivate Mentoring Lab is currently applying for charitable status.
Cultivate Mentoring Lab team
I love to travel. This pic was taken on The Ganges in 2011. We travelled throughout India in February that year with our daughters who were aged 18mo and 3 at the time. It sounds mad in retrospect but it was worth every challenging minute. I wrote about the experience for Stuff.
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Jessica Venning-Bryan
Founder & Managing Trustee Jessica realised she was a feminist aged 13, when she spent her pocket money on adding her mothers surname (Venning) to her father's (Bryan) to commemorate the centenary of womens' suffrage in New Zealand. Since then she's had a passion for women's issues, in particular work equality. Feeling frustrated by the ongoing struggle for equal representation and equal pay in the highest levels of business - and with a lingering hangover from some questionable workplace behaviour experienced in her early career - Jessica set-up Cultivate Mentoring Lab in 2015 to support women to better advocate for themselves at work,
Jessica's professional background is in brand, marketing and communications. She is part of the founding team and the GM Brand at Flick Electric Co. |
This is one of my favorite photos of me and my son. It was taken on Wellington's South Coast. We had just had a rough year in hospital and being unwell, and this was the start of brighter days.
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Nikki Bloomfield
Trustee A sense of justice - and in particular her belief in equality - is what motivated Nikki to study law. After 15 years working she is still motivated by a sense of what is right. Nikki has worked in a range of organisations, and over time has developed an acute awareness of the issues of equality that still have to be addressed.
Nikki has held a number of senior corporate legal roles, mainly in utilities, and is currently General Counsel for an electricity retail business. |
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Samantha Gadd
Trustee Samantha is passionate about helping women succeed in work and in life. She trained as a coach in 2007 and has since worked with many women as a career and life coach.
In 2012 Samantha founded HR Shop and has grown a team (most of which are women!) where she still uses her coaching skills every day to build the confidence of those around her. HR Shop was named the 2015 Deloitte Fast 50 fastest growing services business in Wellington and the lower North Island in 2015. Samantha is very excited about her involvement in Cultivate Mentoring Lab and sees a real fit with her other work and passion for seeing women succeed. |
I love this photo, taken at Waikawa Beach where I get to spend quality time with my three beautiful boys and wonderful husband. This place really is my 'happy place' where the stress and busyness of everyday life is forgotten!
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In early 2016, in need of some mental space and physical challenge, I walked the Kepler Track. I celebrated my birthday walking from Luxmore to Iris Burn and enjoyed both the best and worst of Fjordland weather!
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Mandy Simpson
Trustee No obvious planning went into the career path that has taken Mandy from a law degree to roles in accounting, fraud investigation, financial services and technology, as well as a move from London to Wellington. She is a strong believer in the power of lifelong learning, and in seizing opportunities when they arise.
As well as providing strong guidance to Cultivate, Mandy is the CEO of Cyber Toa, holds gvernance roles in a number of other organisations, and enjoys playing a wide variety of sports in her spare time! She has a background in endurance running and triathlon, and has recently taken up Kung Fu. |
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Nicola Cloherty
Partner - Outreach & Community Having played football on the boy’s team from an early age, Nicola never thought there was a gender gap until secondary school. Her teen experiences led her to study criminology and sociology with a focus on gender, and her final dissertation explored the (mis)representation of women in the media.
Nicola - Founder of 84 Marketing - has offered her digital marketing and comms skills to Cultivate Mentoring Lab because she's passionate about supporting women to connect and build professional and personal success. And along the way she's hoping to figure out when boys and girls stop playing on the same team. |
I walked the last five days of the Camino de Santiago in early 2015. It was the height of winter, with only one sunny day and lots of rain. Spending time with my best friend, laughing, eating, drinking beautfiul wine and walking over 120KM was so restorative.
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