About the programme
Women+ across the globe are minorities in the geospatial industry. For our founders, it was evident that one of the most impactful actions we could take as an organization was to create a mentorship programme that enabled gender minorities in the geospatial industry to connect, support, and learn from each other. With the inception of W+G in 2019, we designed, created and launched a mentorship programme that is now in its eight year.
The W+G Mentorship Programme is an annual initiative that brings women+ together who seek to connect and grow alongside each other to feel empowered in their professional and personal lives. Through this global programme, women+ are provided guidance, tools, and opportunities through which cohort members develop meaningful relationships and achieve collective and individual goals.
To improve the accessibility of mentorship opportunities for women+ across the global geospatial sector, this programme is offered free of charge, and is run by a dedicated team of W+G volunteers.
7
Cohorts
680
+women+ in geospatial empowered
82
countries
279
Mentorship Relationships
Programme Elements
To meet you exactly where you are in your career, we offer two distinct, specialised tracks:
Technical Excellence Track
Focuses on hard skills, advanced methodologies, specific geospatial tools, and complex data workflows.
Leadership & Impact Track
Focuses on career transitions, stepping into management, strategic planning, and soft skills.
Whether you want to sharpen your technical skills or find some guidance through your next career move, we design the mentorship journey around your unique goals.
The Mentorship Programme also provides a number of other unique features and opportunities to enhance Programme participants’ experiences.
The women in my mentorship group have really supported me (and held me accountable) in growing through our monthly challenges and discussions. – Ariel Low, peer mentor, 2021.
Become part of the W+G mentorship programme community
Information for Applicants
What to expect
The W+G Mentorship Programme Team is excited to support you by making this Programme a rewarding and engaging mentorship experience. However, we remind participants that you get out what you put into your mentorship journey. If you are selected for this competitive Programme, you should be prepared to commit to:
- Regular meetings: with your mentor / mentee / peer mentors – once a month at the minimum
- Engagement with the whole cohort, including contributing to Circle discussions on the Mentorship channel and attending cohort cafe’ video calls
- Creating a legacy, for yourself and for the community of women+ in the geospatial industry. For example, you can design and complete a project of your choosing, or write / record a testimonial for the programme. This is a unique opportunity where you can showcase and grow your skills in a number of ways, and we have Legacy Project coordinators to assist you along the way
- Consistent communication, with your pair/group’s assigned Mentorship Coordinator and actively participate in the Programme until the end of the Programme in June
You will need to commit at least 3 hours a month to the programme in order to prepare for and attend your mentorship meetings, and to implement your learning. This time can be spread across the month at points that suit you. You can, of course, spend more time than this to make the most of your experience.
Who can apply
We welcome all who identify as women or are from underrepresented genders to apply to the Programme as either a mentor or mentee. This includes cis women, trans women, trans men, non-binary individuals, and those who are otherwise marginalised based on their identifying gender.
Cis-men are encouraged to share their knowledge and experience as mentors in the Programme; however, we cannot support cis-men as mentees or peer mentors in this Programme.
As this is an international programme, be aware that you may be matched with a mentorship partner who is not near your home location. Please ensure you are equipped for regular voice or video meetings throughout the programme.
I was able to meet my mentor at an international industry conference. She had so much time for me and really boosted my confidence. - Madeleine Hann, mentee, 2021
How to apply
As a programme applicant, you are evaluated based on the information provided in your submitted application. If selected, you would be matched based on your areas of expertise, the skills and knowledge you wish to develop, and other practical considerations (e.g. time zones). The link to the application is below.
Pre-requisites: Join our free W+G community in Circle.
Please note that applicants who have not joined the W+G community by the 15th of August 11.59 pm 2026 (Central European Summer Time, CEST) will be rejected automatically.
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What Makes a Successful Application?
For Mentees
Your application is scored based on your responses to the following questions:
- Why do you want to take part in the Mentorship Programme?
- If you are selected for the Mentorship Programme, what do you hope to achieve by the end?
We suggest you write approximately one-two paragraphs to answer these questions – take some time to think through your answers and make them specific to you and your aims to get the best results!
The remaining questions serve to help us make an effective match so please be confident the information you provide is accurate (e.g. your time zone).
Grammatical mistakes are not penalised as long as they don’t affect our comprehension of your answers.
There is limited capacity in our programme; applicants with higher scores are more likely to be invited to join the cohort, so we encourage all applicants to invest time and effort into fully answering all questions in the application.
For Mentors
We ask you a short series of questions to learn about the skills and expertise you are able to offer mentees. We also ask about your mentorship preferences and mentoring capacity. We use all of this information to ensure an effective match. Grammatical mistakes are not penalised as long as they don’t affect our comprehension of your answers.
Please take care to answer these questions carefully, particularly those around your capacity, as we will make matches based on these responses and do not want to disappoint any mentees.
Key Dates
Here are the key dates for the upcoming cohort:
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📅 Applications Open: 6th of July – 12 am 2026 (Central European Summer Time, CEST)
📅 Applications Close: 15th of August 11.59 pm 2026 (Central European Summer Time, CEST)
📢 Application Outcome Notifications: 15th of September 2026
🚀 Programme Commences: 15th of September 2026
🎓 Programme Concludes: 16th of May 2027
Interested in participating?