Video: Illumeâs Women Fellows
8th March was International Womenâs Day! Time to celebrate Women all over the world. It is our pride and pleasure to celebrate this with our Women Fellows who are emerging talent, future leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers.
We canât help but think about what is the state of Women in Workforce today?
Recent report by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found more than 60% of 5000 Australian large companies surveyed had a median employer gender pay gap of over 5 per cent. In startups and VCs, less than ~3% of funding went to women founded businesses while significantly less women hold investment decision making power in VC and investment firms.
What signal are we giving to hundreds of women graduates with aspirations to become leaders and entrepreneurs?
Rather than hiding under, "it's a pipeline issue", what can we Actually do about this at a systemic and individual level?
What are we doing about diversity and equity at Illume Foundation?
For the last 2.5 years, we went on a mission on how we could fill the talent and in particular gender gap in tech, startups and venture capital. And we couldn't be more proud of these Illume Foundation alumni who represent the future of women workforce, leaders and entrepreneurs.
Women Fellows represent 41% of our program participants, i.e talent entering the workforce.
We achieved this by:
1) Ensuring our programs are designed to take their needs into consideration
2) Partnering and promoting to groups and communities of women eg STEM Sisters VicWISE
3) Communities where diverse founders and talent hangout like StartSpace and Catalysr - Accelerator for Migrants & Refugees and our network of other programs
4) And taking the approach 'You can't be what you can't see' through our speakers, mentors and events .
Thank you to all our amazing startup and VC partners and fellows and advocates for Illume Fellows who made this happen.
Cheers,
Laxmi, (Connect with me on LinkedIn)
Founder & Director, Illume Foundation
Whatâs happening at the Fellowship?
We are excited to welcome our VC Fellows March24 Cohort. The Fellows will embark on a 6 weeks journey to learn all about venture capital, startup fundraising and working in startups. Plus they get work experience at a startup to kickstart their career!
Congratulations đ to the Fellows who made it!
Missed out? Enrol for our April24 Cohort.
Illume Foundation Pitches at The Future Talent Showcase at the Cremorne Digital Hub.
Weâre delighted to represent our startup community and our Illume Fellows to Cremorne Digital Hub, Victorian Governmentâs initiative to bring together, talent, companies and innovation.
The Future Talent Showcase brings together universities, companies and talents to create connection and job opportunities. It is exciting that there are tons of opportunity for students, graduates and talent in startups and tech sector.
Donât be put off by Tech layoffs, many companies are still hiring. Get your resume and experiences in place.
Upcoming Opportunities:
Illume Fellowships and Internship Applications are now Open for March 2024 intake- starting as early as 18th March. So if youâre looking to get work-experience in your field, join our upcoming program.
***Opportunities for job post program in Marketing, Data Science and Developer.***
Upcoming Events:
Illume is excited to host once again, Careers In Startups Panel in collaboration with the University of Melbourne.
Are you a student eager to learn more about career prospects in startups, or perhaps you've got an idea of your own? Our Careers & Internships in Startups session is for you!Â
âYouâll get to listen to our panel of past interns, founders and employers who will demystify startup land, share the doâs and donâts of an internship and answer your burning questions. Plus, youâll learn about the Illume Program who can place you in an internship with a startup!Â
When: Tuesday, March 12, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Thatâs all for this time folks. Donât forget to follow us on our LinkedIn and Instagram for weekly updates.
Cheers, Illume Team