#POWiPL - Presiding Officer launches Women in Public Life Development Scheme

28 January 2014

The National Assembly for Wales’s Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, will on 30 January launch the #POWiPL Development Scheme.

It aims to encourage more women to apply for public appointments, and other roles in public life, by providing mentoring, role-shadowing and training opportunities.

The Scheme will be run in partnership with equal opportunities charity Chwarae Teg and Cardiff Business School, which won the joint tender to run the project.

“There are hundreds of women across Wales who would make fantastic school governors, magistrates or valued members of other public bodies,” said Dame Rosemary.

“And many of them look at these public bodies and are put off when they see it remains a man’s world.

“I am committed to changing this through my Women in Public Life campaign and have already launched the Women in Public Life Portal, which provides information about how to get involved in public office, the latest vacancies and training opportunities.

“The Development Scheme is the next phase of the #POWiPL project and one which I believe will be of enormous use in combatting this issue.

“A mentor will often provide inspiration for women to take the next step.  The mentors themselves don’t have to be women.  I want men and women, who are already involved in public life, to become mentors and help deliver this innovative programme.

The Presiding Officer will announce the partnership with Chwarae Teg and Cardiff Business School and give an overview of the development scheme at an event in the Senedd on 30 January.

There will also be speeches by two leading women in public life in Wales – Sophie Howe, the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, and Liz Musa, who following her participation in Operation Black Vote stood as a candidate in the 2011 Assembly election.

They will give their insight into the importance of role models and support networks to ensure that the right skills are nurtured and developed.

Joy Kent, Chief Executive of Chwarae Teg, said: “We at Chwarae Teg are absolutely delighted to be working with the Presiding Officer and Cardiff Business School to deliver this innovative and much needed mentoring scheme.

“We are keen to support the ambitions of the many women we know who have reached a point in their careers where they’ve developed fantastic skills and knowledge that can be put to great use in public life.

“This will be both personally rewarding for the women involved and offer significant benefits to Welsh society as we see decision making bodies benefiting from a wider and more representative range of experiences and views.”

Anyone wishing to get involved in the scheme, as a mentor or mentee, should contact Emma Tamplin at Chwarae Teg, at emma.tamplin@chwaraeteg.com.