The University of Newcastle is backing women entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders around the Hunter and Central Coast regions with a new program to help them take charge.
FLIP is a nine-week program aimed at building entrepreneurial confidence, validating business ideas and developing an authentic leadership presence in a supportive, hands-on environment. It’s run by the University’s Integrated Innovation Network (I2N), home to its startup program and acellerator.
FLIP is open to women with or without a business idea, and no university affiliation is required. You can apply through the FLIP site here with applications closing in a fortnight on September 14.
The program kicks off in October.
Siobhan Curran, I2N’s director of knowledge exchange and entrepreneurship, said the program has set out to address the fact that just 2% of VC funding in Australia went to all-female founding teams last year, while on the leadership front, women have been appointed to just 22% of CEO roles.
“At a time when female-founded ventures are fighting for visibility and investment, this program offers not just skills and support, but a community,” she said.
“FLIP is about creating space for women to lead boldly and build ventures that matter.”
University alumna Belinda MacDougall, founder and CEO of The Healthy Happy Co (makers of The Lady Shake, The Man Shake and The Kids Shake), has backed FLIP to bring it reality and said the program will tackle the challenges women entrepreneurs face by delivering business development workshops and targeted leadership development to address both structural and personal barriers to success.
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