February 9, 2022
Cohort #1 of Women Rising, complete!
In September 2021, 18 Theta women and 4 Theta men enrolled on the Women Rising Programme, a 6-month course spearheaded by Microsoft & leading women's development expert Megan Dalla-Camina. After 8 modules and frequent coaching calls (plus a bit of catch up over the holidays for some of us!), we're at the finish line. Here's a recap from some of those who took part.
Phoebe Dobson, Theta's Head of Delivery, championed the course alongside CEO Rob Lee. Phoebe also undertook the Women Rising Programme.
"We have a highly motivated and thriving group of women tech professionals at Theta, who naturally look for their next challenge. When we got an email about the Women Rising course, it looked like an ideal opportunity for growth and fresh learning. As a bonus, other leaders within the business could also enrol in the sister course. I've loved hearing the positive feedback over the past few months and am super pleased that the demand is high enough for cohort #2. Bring it on!"
Course overview
Through a variety of coaching calls, playsheets and videos, we navigated through 8 modules. Here's an overview of what we covered.
Supporting Theta women to rise
The best gauge of success comes directly from our team. Here's what they had to say.
Helen Elliott, Senior Consultant:
"I’ve learnt a lot about myself during this programme and there are really practical tips and steps for self-improvement. It’s also a great feeling to recognise and celebrate the traits, skills and experience women have. While it’s sobering to learn we have almost 100 years of more work to achieve gender equality, I’m optimistic and feel that experiences like this course are part of the solution. For example, highlighting where discrimination and unconscious bias is at play (in ALL of us, myself included), and giving techniques to combat it, is part of the work and does make a difference."
Rebecca Lee, Relationship Manager:
“I was surprised at how the course challenged my thinking around certain aspects of my role and provided a space for deep reflection through the playsheets. Understanding, that as women, we bring a different set of skills into our roles and it is OK to be comfortable doing so rather than working harder to prove your position. The cohort group sessions gave a real sense of community as well. Definitely recommend!”
Gemma Wigley, Marketing Manager:
"It's awesome that Theta got right behind this course and that so many of us opted in. In every module, I found something that gave me food for thought in both my professional and personal life, and I've already recommended it to someone else who'll be joining cohort #2. Judging by our group Teams chatter, I'd say it's been a really positive and eye-opening experience."
Sister programme success
Jeff Wogen, Head of Digital, completed the Women Rising Manager Programme, an accompanying course.
"This is a great program for any manager, male or female, to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the challenges that women can face at work. It gives you the tools to be able to better support women in your team, backed with research data and real-world examples. I was impressed with the effort put into creating this and how much I learned in each module. Any manager would get a lot out of this program – and it was great to have the opportunity to take part in it."
We'd like to extend our thanks to Megan Dalla Camina, the course facilitators and Microsoft for putting together such a fantastic initiative. And of course, congratulations to all those who took on the programme during a busy, 'in and out of lockdown' kind of year. Team Theta getting the job done.
More on Women Rising.