Mentorship
The WIA Mentorship Program connects people of underrepresented gender identities at all professional levels to dedicated mentors who can help them achieve the next steps in their careers.
Over 500 creatives annually are paired with veteran industry professionals to bolster careers and confidence. By providing high-quality, consistent learning opportunities and tools for members to advance their overall careers, WIA is actively tearing down the barriers faced by creatives of underrepresented gender identities within the industry.
WIA Mentors volunteer their time and are working professionals from a broad range of disciplines including writing, directing, producing, editing, storyboarding, and more.
Mentorship at a Glance
Virtual
As part of WIA’s mission to dismantle roadblocks encountered by people of underrepresented gender identities in our industries, the WIA Mentorship program is presented in a virtual format to connect more creatives from more corners of the world.
Small Circles
WIA Circles are typically composed of one mentor working with a cohort of six to 10 mentees to ensure a more personalized, directly connected experience. In turn, mentees instantly expand their network.
Duration
The WIA Mentorship Program runs twice each year and each round lasts four months. Round One runs April to July and Round Two runs October to January.
The WIA Mentorship Program runs twice each year and each round lasts four months. Round One runs April to July and Round Two runs October to January.
Global
The WIA Mentorship Program has no geographic boundaries, with participants from Vancouver and Brazil to Turkey, Australia, and Thailand, and everywhere in between. No matter where you are in the world, you can participate as a mentor or as a mentee!
The WIA Mentorship Program has no geographic boundaries, with participants from Vancouver and Brazil to Turkey, Australia, and Thailand, and everywhere in between. No matter where you are in the world, you can participate as a mentor or as a mentee!
The program’s impact has been enormous, with 86% of Mentees in the most recent survey stating that they were able to accomplish their goals.
Mentors have benefitted from the program as well, with many reporting that their participation gave them a richer and more nuanced understanding of the industry as a whole.
The success of WIA’s Mentorship Program can also be measured by the number of women working in the industry today. According to The Animation Guild, more than 70% of animation and art school students are women, yet as recently as 2017 only 20% of the creative jobs in animation were held by women. Since then, the number of women joining the ranks has been steadily climbing, and in the last two years, the industry has seen the largest increase ever in the percentage of women working in animation (nearly 8%), bringing the overall percentage to 34%.
* WIA recognizes gender is non-binary and intersects with every other aspect of identity. As an organization that advocates for gender justice, we identify people of underrepresented gender identities as women, including transgender women who are people who identify as women despite their gender assigned at birth, non-binary people, those who do not identify as exclusively male or female but may identify as both, neither, or some combination of the two, and those who are otherwise marginalized because of their gender identity.