Russell Reynolds Associates & WinPE Launch Mentorship Program to Strengthen Women in Investing

By: WE Team | Tuesday, 6 October 2020

Russell Reynolds Associates and Women in PE (WinPE) come together to launch a mentorship program for future women leaders named WinPE ProClub. This initiative has been taken to address the gender diversity gap within the Indian investing ecosystem especially at the leadership level. 

Elaborating on the mentorship program, Nupur Garg, Founder, WinPE says, “Mentorship is acknowledged as one of the most powerful tools driving professional success. In the case of women, researchers find that mentorship can be a key success factor as women deal with workplaces largely dominated by men. At the same time, research shows that while 67 percent of women rate mentorship as highly important in their career advancement, 63 percent report they have never had a mentor.”

This is a maiden program launched for the PE/VC community in India. The program mainly intends to nurture high performing mid-career women from the investing ecosystem by inducing a much-needed gender balance in leadership and shaping the future course of the industry. 

WinPE is one of the leading private equity investors among the country’s top 100 women in finance. Its main objective is to close the gender gap in investing. WinPE’s other highly successful initiatives include a networking platform for young women in finance, leadership skills training series, and technical masterclasses.

Commenting on the partnership, Sachin Rajan, Country Manager India, Russell Reynolds Associates says, “Diversity and Inclusion have been a strong area of focus and we have been the frontrunners in advising our clients extensively in this area.”

Both WinPE and Russell Reynolds would together co-design and co-execute the mentorship program. Russell Reynolds Associates would bring in its extensive knowledge and best practices in design, implementation, and administration. 

The program is a joint effort as the PE/VC industry would be invited to join by nominating high potential women from investing firms, advisory firms and PEVC funded companies as mentees. These mentees would further receive dedicated one-on-one mentorship over a period of 12 months.

Furthermore, the program also offers group events and networking platforms that would create an opportunity for the mentees and mentors to communicate with each other.

The seasoned advisory board of industry leaders participation includes Shyamala Gopinath, former Deputy Governor, RBI; Matangi Gowrishankar, certified coach and former Global Head of Capacity Development, BP; and Ester Martinez, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, People Matters.

Vinita Katara, Consultant, Russell Reynolds Associates states, “The partnership with WinPE is an excellent opportunity to co-create a platform that would enable future women leaders in India. We believe the mentorship program will help develop best-in-class women leaders in the PE sector.”