IMAA Launches Inaugural QLD 2024/2025 Female Leaders of Tomorrow Mentoring Programme

Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), the national, not-for-profit industry association for the independent media agency industry, has announced the first-ever Queensland intake of its Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme, kicking off with a launch event in Brisbane.

The 2024/2025 programme, which follows the successful inaugural programme last year, has been offered for the first time in Brisbane this year, along with programmes in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

The Queensland offering launched with a meet and greet event at the Calile Hotel on November 12, giving this year’s inaugural Brisbane mentors and mentees a chance to meet, alongside IMAA CEO, Sam Buchanan, who will run through the programme outline.

This year’s Queensland mentors are Kirrily Hirst, director of sales – agency and direct at GoTransit Media Group, Anthea Gaffney, QLD State sales manager at SBS, and Clare Starling, co-founder and director at Inner Sanctum Sports Management.

They will be paired with mentees Sarah McNeil from Sunny Advertising, Angela Rogers from Audience Group and Madeline Begg from TFM.Digital.

The Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme offers IMAA members the opportunity to be paired with some of the industry’s top leaders for mentoring and professional development.

The inaugural programme, which launched in August last year, matched 16 media industry leaders with up-and-coming agency talent in a six-month structured mentoring programme, including online and face-to-face sessions, training and meet-ups.

The pilot programme was a resounding success, with all the participants describing the programme as “life-changing,” giving them new-found leadership skills and confidence.

“We are so delighted to extend the Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme to Queensland as we look to nurture and grow the careers of our future female leaders in the indie sector. Brisbane is home to a vibrant and growing indie media agency sector and this programme ensures that we are future  proofing our talent and the industry. I’d like to sincerely thank Kirrily, Anthea, and Clare for volunteering to be our mentors this year and imparting their knowledge to our mentees,” IMAA CEO, Sam Buchanan, said.

Mentor Kirrily Hirst said, “It’s an absolute honour for me personally to be a mentor for the Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme as it enters Queensland for the first time. We have so much fantastic female talent in this market, it will be a privilege to help mentor tomorrow’s leaders. I look forward to building a great relationship with my mentee.”

Mentee Sarah McNeil said, “This is such an exciting opportunity for me to learn from our industry’s best leaders and I’m grateful to the IMAA for extending the programme to Queensland this year. I can’t wait to build my professional connections and apply my learnings to further my career.”

The Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme is exclusively available to IMAA members and partners nationwide. It is designed for individuals who currently hold manager/director positions, with a minimum five years’ experience in any media agency discipline.

The Female Leaders of Tomorrow mentees discuss the 2023/24 programme here.

Further information is available here.