15 February, 2016
Legal Mentoring Programme – a first for Hong Kong
Women in Law Hong Kong (WILHK) today announces the launch of their cross-firm mentoring programme, a first of its kind that is specific for legal professionals in Hong Kong. The 10-month pilot programme includes a calendar of workshops, guidance from male and female mentors and a support network to assist female legal professionals reach the next stage in their career.
TWF Partnership
WILHK is proud to be partnering with The Women’s Foundation Hong Kong (TWF), one of Hong Kong's leading NGO's for the advancement of women, on this programme.
TWF CEO, Su-Mei Thompson, said "We are delighted to be supporting WILHK in this ground-breaking initiative for Hong Kong. We know that women do much better in their careers with the encouragement and support of others, than on their own. The WILHK programme will allow younger female lawyers to receive support in a structured way from senior lawyers at a different firm or company. At the same time, as with TWF’s Mentoring Programme for Women Leaders, mentors in the WILHK programme will benefit hugely from reverse mentoring and peer interaction.”
What prompted this?
The launch of this mentoring programme is a result of direct feedback from women working in Hong Kong’s legal profession regarding their struggles to find appropriate mentors and law firms and companies who have identified a significant decline in female senior associates when compared with their male counterparts. Legal professionals based in Hong Kong are being encouraged to give back to the profession as a mentor or put their hand up as a mentee to benefit from the experience of senior practitioners.
What's does the programme involve?
WILHK's 10 month mentoring programme includes:
One-on-one mentoring, with matches based on preferences and a "speed matching" cooking event with celebrity legal chef, Mina Park of Sook;
A structured but flexible programme, with regular formal and informal networking events, seminars and soft-skill workshops to engage, strengthen and complement non-legal skills; a flexible programme to cater for the competing demands of mentors’ and mentees’ time;
Support and feedback, with dedicated members of the WILHK Mentoring Programme Committee providing guidance throughout the programme.
Further information
To find out more about WILHK's Pilot Mentoring Programme you are invited and encouraged to attend WILHK's Information Session on Wednesday 9 March 2016 at 6:45pm at the offices of Stephenson Harwood, 95 Queensway, Admiralty. Please RSVP to info@wilhk.com
The Mentor/Mentee Application Form and further details about the Mentoring Programme are available on the WILHK website: www.wilhk.com. Applications close 24 March 2016.
About WILHK
WILHK is a not-for-profit registered society that was set up by 17 male and female legal professionals across different law firms and organisations who have combined in their spare time to foster the development and retention of women in the legal profession as well as encourage collaboration, integration and education amongst law firms and in-house counsel in Hong Kong.
For all enquiries or to join the WILHK mailing list, email info@wihlk.com and keep up to date by liking WILHK's social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.
