Santander International Invites Female Founders for Mentoring

• Santander International offers mentoring to female founders in Jersey between April and November
• The program assists women in developing leadership skills during different stages of their business

Santander International is encouraging women entrepreneurs and business owners in Jersey to join the Santander Women Business Leaders’ Mentoring Programme, which will be held from April to November every year.

The Programme, which was initiated in 2019, has enabled close to 1,200 female entrepreneurs from the UK and the Crown Dependencies to improve their leadership capabilities during different stages of entrepreneurship.

With the support of Moving Ahead, an award-winning mentoring and development Programme, mentees have access to one-to-one meetings with established business owners or corporate leaders, as well as online masterclasses with role models and speakers.

Kirsty Lamond, who is Head of Retail Banking at Santander International, mentioned that this is the eighth year of the Programme. With Maria O’Regan and their team within the UK, they aim to recruit 100 mentees into the programme.

It is aimed at female founders, business owners, or majority shareholders who have been trading for at least 18 months. The mentoring takes place virtually, which allows mentors and mentees to be matched based on their specific needs and expertise, regardless of their location.

Santander also provides "Beyond Mentoring" support, which includes online mentoring programs related to business challenges such as finance, marketing, digital, or sustainability, as well as a peer-to-peer community to collaborate with peers, along with free access to the Santander Open Academy, which provides a variety of global courses on topics such as AI, leadership, or sustainability.

The program accepts applications from enterprises with select criteria, prioritizing Santander customers. It also accepts applications for mentors who are a prior experienced business owner or executive leader. Applications from males and females with small to medium-sized business experience are welcomed.