As part of its Women’s Impact Initiative, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has launched a new mentoring and development program for highly talented women in the fundraising field.

With women composing about 70 percent of the profession, but only holding approximately 30 percent of senior-level fundraising positions, the Women’s Impact Initiative (WII) was created in 2018 to address the specific issues and challenges that women in the fundraising profession face.

The new mentoring program (expected to expand in 2020) is the latest facet of WII that will provide support and guidance to women in fundraising with an interest in securing senior-level positions.

“The gender leadership gap in the profession is significant, and it will take many years to properly address the systemic deficiencies,” said Tycely Williams, CFRE, chair of WII. “We’re starting by piloting and learning from this extensive mentoring program. We’ve structured an educational experience that connects women to industry resources and we’re eager to test the short and long-term impact.”

The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy will evaluate the program and measure the impact it had on the participants, while CFRE International will be waiving the initial certification fee for mentees if the CFRE exam is taken within two years of graduating from the mentorship program.

For additional information visit: afpidea.org/wii