IMO celebrates graduating women maritime leaders

IMO continues sponsorship of Maritime SheEO leadership scheme following graduation of first cohort.

Thirty women from maritime administrations across the globe have completed the first ever Leadership Accelerator Programme (LEAP) run by Maritime SheEO, designed to equip women with leadership skills and the confidence to progress in their careers. A virtual graduation ceremony for participants was held on 30 June 2022.

The programme, which ran over eight-weeks, was announced in November 2020 and launched on International Women's Day in March 2022. It was part of the IMO's Women in Maritime programme and run in collaboration with the Women's International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA International). The participants were a mix of candidates from the eight IMO-established Women in Maritime Associations (WIMAs) and WISTA International.

Following the success of the first iteration, IMO has committed to sponsoring another group of future women leaders in the second half of this year.

IMO's Head of Africa and manager of the Women in Maritime programme, William Azuh says, "The Maritime SheEO programme is focused on building competence, which is one of the most important factors that organisations consider when choosing leaders. Programmes like these are very important to build an individual's confidence as they go into leadership and the confidence of the sector in appointing leaders from historically marginalised communities. We look forward to supporting the next edition of the Maritime SheEO programme and will be releasing details of the programme in due course."

The LEAP blended-learning course, which includes self-paced learning as well as small group coaching, is designed to enhance personal development of leadership skills through modules on building professional networks, strategic thinking, persuasive communication and more. Despite challenging schedules, course statistics show that participants completed and submitted 90% of compulsory coursework on time. Sixty per cent (1,800) of the 3,000 optional self-learning modules have already been accessed by participants.

The women participating in the course have varying degrees of maritime work experience, with careers that range from just a few months to over two decades. The networking opportunities created within the course have benefitted attendees and many of the graduates of the course have already reported career progression because of the training and support they received.