Females Founders are rising up and taking charge, especially in the Moreton Bay Region! Advance Queensland has recognised this and have created a program specifically designed to offer support to female founders and to encourage more female innovators to take charge.
Female Founders in the Moreton Bay Region now have the opportunity to apply for the Advance Queensland Female Founders Program. This program helps to maximise the number of inspirational women involved in Queensland's innovation ecosystem. It is designed to assist female founders at different stages of the entrepreneurial life cycle and focuses on increasing the participation rates and business skills of female founders in Queensland. The program also provides support to those who are in the growth phase and need assistance to take their business to the next level. The program is aimed at female founders who are:
QODE, Queensland's biggest innovation and technology event held in March 2020, has included the Advance Queensland's Female Founders Program into their QODEX Exhibition Floor. This will give female founders, especially those in regional areas the opportunity to have face to face access to the program as opposed to only having access via Skype. These offerings create greater opportunities for learning, participation and networking for regional women while in Brisbane.
As part of the Female Founders Program, there are participation opportunities and a Female Founders Panel Discussion that will be on offer at QODEX.
The Participation section of the program offers the following:
The Personalised Pathways Program is designed to provide you with personalised support through a 1 hour consultation with experts in commercialisation, innovation and business management. The experts will help you navigate incubators, private and public accelerator programs, grants, government support and paid and free subject matter specific programs. As the program is government-funded, these sessions are free, confidential and focused on your success. You will walk away with a solid business proposition that will propel you into new opportunities or help you push past challenges with strong plan in place.
The Mentor Match Program is designed to connect you with skilled business mentors to help you on your journey to grow and scale.
If you’re accepted into the program, you’ll be matched with a mentor and work with them over the course of 3x 1 hour sessions. You might work with them to develop your business model or strategy, solve a particular challenge or issue, or help you develop networks and connections.
Applications for the first round of mentoring are open now.
This program is designed for female business owners with high growth aspirations. The Female Founders Advisory Board Essentials program is designed provide the confidence, skills and exposure to business owners to learn:
This is a half day workshop held in the morning of Wednesday, 25 March.
NOTE: If you don’t fit the program selection criteria and still wish to participate please do contact the program coordinator.
The QODEX Female Founders Panel Discussion will be on the topic of 'The Power of, and Challenges for Tech Start-ups in Regional Queensland'. The panel will consist of individuals representing female founders in the corporate, industry and regional sectors.
Start-ups don’t always identify as ‘tech’ founders, nor know how to address the perceived skills, experience, confidence gap, bias etc. These are all concerns that will be addressed and discussed by the panel. The aim of the Panel Discussion is to support female founders and explore the opportunities and support available to them.
The Panel Discussion will be held on Wednesday, 25 March from 1pm-2pm at QODEX.
These programs will offer female founders invaluable information and resources to help propel their business well into the future. Advance Queensland, Queensland Government and QODE are taking strides in equality by offering a such an important and much needed program for women. The launch of the program surrounded this year's International Women's Day.
For more information on how you can be a part of the Advance Queensland Founders Program and QODE click on the links.