We have teamed up with the Careers Team at Leeds Beckett University to bring together individuals who identify as Early Career Professionals, in the Leeds City Region, to discuss some of the opportunities and barriers experienced in accessing/progressing into leadership roles. The discussion will also explore best practice in terms of business support for Early Career Professionals.

Some of the questions that we will be tackling during the meet-up include:

• What do we even mean by an Early Career Professional?

• What needs to happen for an Early Career Professional to feel ready and able to progress in their business/career?

• What skills do Early Career Professionals need to develop in order to progress into leadership roles?

Please come along to this #WECAN event if you are interested in exploring the questions above in further detail and sharing best practice in this area. During this event you will also hear more about the #WECAN project, how it relates to enhancing support for Early Career Professionals, and the ways through which you can become involved

The aim of this event and subsequent research into this area is:

• To enhance our understanding of the development needs of women, early career professionals.

• To explore the challenges faced by women, early career professionals in progressing into leadership and management roles.

• To create a supportive network for women, early career professionals in the Leeds City Region.

• To support SMEs based in the Leeds City Region in developing support mechanisms for women early careers professionals.

During the event you will be invited into breakout rooms to share your perspectives with other professionals from across the Leeds City Region. In these breakout rooms you will discuss some of the research questions above and hear about the experiences of others. Through sharing experiences, challenges, career stories and ideas, we hope that this meet-up will lead on to further deep dive discussions which will be used to inform the #WECAN project, and the support made available to early career professionals.

About #WECAN

#WECAN is a three year £1.7 million project part funded by the European Social Fund. Led by Leeds Beckett University and working with a network of partners including Edge Hill University and Social Enterprise Yorkshire and Humber, the project aims to support the next generation of women leaders in the Leeds City Region by building their leadership skills, capabilities and opportunities.

European Social Fund

The project has a budget of £1.7m over three years, partly funded by partners and partly from the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations.

For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

Contact us :

Website - www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/wecan

Email - wecan@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Twitter - @wecanlcr

LinkedIn - #WECAN (Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking)