Despite progress, women continue to be under-represented in positions of power and leadership in Government, Business, and public life. This picture is even worse for Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority women, LGBTQ+ women, disabled women, and women who experience additional inequality. We will only be able to truly address all of the issues we face as a society when we have diverse representatives that reflect the communities we live in.

LeadHerShip aims to ensure that women become better represented in such decision-making roles and provide women with a platform so that their voices are heard, and they are inspired to see themselves as future leaders.

There are three LeadHerShip programmes. Chwarae Teg will provide young women with shadowing opportunities in national politics at the Assembly, local politics at various local councils, and in business following female leaders at a variety of Welsh businesses.

LeadHerShip began in the National Assembly in 2017 around International Women’s Day, and gave young women the opportunity to shadow their local Assembly Member for a day. Participants got one-to-one time with AMs, unique insight into their day-to-day lives as well as a better understanding of the National Assembly.

Since then, the programme has grown, offering women one-day shadowing opportunities at the National Assembly, within Local Government and with businesses. Participants spend the day with inspiring role models, and gain experience of life behind the scene at the Assembly, Local Government and Businesses.

We will only be able to truly address all of the issues we face as a society, when we have diverse representatives that reflect the communities we live in. LeadHerShip will inspire a new generation of female leaders, and encourage them to make their voices heard.

The three LeadHerShip programmes will run at different times of the year, so keep on our social media channels for upcoming opportunities or sign up to our newsletter to make sure you are kept up to date.

Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Women aged between 16-22 and living in Wales are eligible to apply for our LeadHerShip programmes.

Through three LeadHerShip programmes, Chwarae Teg provides young women with shadowing opportunities in national politics at the Assembly, local politics at various local councils, and in business following female leaders at a variety of Welsh businesses.

  1. Read the information provided for the programme you are interested in.
  2. Complete the online application form by the relevant deadline.
  3. Any questions, please email [email protected]. Please identify the programme name in the email subject.

Gain experience of what it’s like working as a Member of the Senedd with our unique one-day shadowing opportunity.

Chwarae Teg is offering young women across Wales the opportunity to shadow a Member of the Senedd and gain unique insight into the day-to-day life of an MS.

Women continue to be under-represented in politics and public life, with 43% of elected MSs being women. However, this figure fluctuates and is inconsistent across political parties. The decisions made by Members of the Senedd affect every area of our lives, and it’s crucial that women’s voices are heard in these debates so the decisions that affect everyone are made fairly. We want to build young women’s understanding and engagement with confidence, as well as improve confidence to speak up and make your voice heard about the issues that matter most.

If LeadHerShip sounds like something for you, but you’re more interested in Local Government, or Business, make sure you check our other programmes.

If you have any questions about the programme, email [email protected]

Applications open for LeadHerShip Senedd 2023

Apply now for your chance to take part.

Applications will close on Monday 23 January. In order to take part, you need to be aged between 16-22 and living in Wales. No previous political experience or engagement is required.

LeadHerShip 2023 will take place on Tuesday 7 March 2023 at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, you will need to be free to be in Cardiff on that day in order to take part.

LeadHerShip 2023 - Information for applicants.

Are you interested in how decisions are made for your local community? Are you passionate about local politics?

Gain experience of what it’s like working as a Local Council Leader with our unique one-day shadowing opportunity

LeadHerShip Local Council provides women aged 18 – 25 with an opportunity to learn about Welsh Politics at a local Government level, and gain first-hand experience from inspiring role models within public life. Our LeadHerShip participants shadow a Local Council Leader for a day to find out what life is really like as a decision maker.

Local authorities are responsible for local education, care services, leisure facilities, taking care of our streets and environment, local housing and developing business in our regions. Decisions made in these areas affect the day-to-day lives of women across Wales, therefore it is crucial that their voices are heard.

At the moment, only 18% of Council Leaders in Wales are women, and 28% of Councillors are women. Improving young women’s engagement with politics at a local level is key to increasing representation in the future.

The day will provide participants with one-to-one time with their Council Leader and their team, to gain an understanding of what the role includes.

Applications for LeadHerShip Local Council are now closed

Are you interested in how businesses are run on a daily basis? Are you passionate about entrepreneurship?

Gain experience of what it’s like leading a business with our unique one-day shadowing opportunity

LeadHerShip Business provides young women aged between 18-25 an opportunity to shadow female leaders of businesses in Wales, to learn about entrepreneurship and how businesses are run on a daily basis.

Research by the Women’s Business Council has shown that the UK economy is missing out on more than 1.2 million new enterprises due to the untapped business potential of women.

Participants will gain first-hand experience from inspiring role models within the private sector and discover what it really takes to lead a successful business in Wales.

The day will provide participants with one-to-one time with their chosen Leader and their team, to gain an understanding of what the role includes.

Applications for LeadHerShip Business have closed.

Business leaders taking part in the scheme are:

Lynda Sagona, CEO, United Welsh in Caerphilly

Hello - I’m Lynda Sagona. I’m a Chartered Surveyor and Group Chief Executive at United Welsh.

I’ve worked in the housing sector for ten years, initially as a Housing Director and for the past three years, as CEO.

At United Welsh we provide quality, safe and affordable homes for people in housing need. We build around 250/300 new homes each year and we also deliver support and well being services. United Welsh employs around 360 people, including 158 in our repairs and maintenance subsidiary, Celtic Horizons.

I consider myself extremely lucky to work with a fantastic team of dedicated and talented people, a team that is passionate about making a difference to people’s lives.

For me, each day is different and varied. One day I may be meeting with partners to agree objectives for joint working; the next working with my team to consider how we improve our ways of delivering services, speaking at an event or considering budgets. I am also a member of the United Welsh Board, working closely with my board colleagues.

An important area of work for us currently is the implementation of our new tenant engagement strategy, aimed at ensuring that the Board has the opportunity to listen to and fully consider the views of our tenants.

“I’m really looking forward to LeadHerShip Business and working with a young woman for the day. I will make every effort to inspire confidence in the successful candidate along with a good sense of how important it is to value employees and work as a team to achieve objectives.”

United Welsh is a registered social landlord employing over 300 people and managing almost 6,000 homes across 11 local authorities. It also has a new building programme worth around £21m each year.
Claire Swindell, Director Of Client Services, Spindogs in Cardiff

Claire’s role as Director of Client Services includes overseeing the client-facing aspects of our business and leading the account management and marketing teams, making sure Spindogs consistently provides an incredible customer experience, both online and offline.

With over 15 years’ experience managing a variety of client accounts, Claire has mastered the ability to effectively assess how we interact with clients and make improvements where needed to assure we maintain the exceptional service Spindogs is known for.

Claire has worked with clients in a range of spheres, from financial services, education and training to transport, to identify new and exciting ways they can engage with their customers.

In addition to a Journalism, Film and Broadcasting degree from Cardiff University, Claire has previously held a range of titles, including Chair of Grŵp, Trustee of the Motivation & Learning Trust, Chair of the Volunteer Committee for the Tenovus Annual Ball and a Board Member for CIM Wales.

“I’m really looking forward to LeadHerShip Business and working with a young woman for the day. I hope to give her a real insight into what it’s like to work in a thriving business and inspire some confidence to encourage her to aim high and achieve her leadership ambitions.”

Established in 2004, Spindogs is a digital business which now has a team of 59 highly trained creative and technical individuals who create online solutions backed up by the latest technology.
Anne Jessopp, CEO, Royal Mint in Pontyclun

Anne joined The Royal Mint in 2008 as HR Director. Anne has worked in HR across a number of sectors, gaining manufacturing experience early in her career at Rolls Royce and Procter and Gamble. She went on to gain consumer experience at Radio Rentals and RAC. She was HR Director of an industrial services company and Remploy, before joining The Royal Mint in 2008 as HR Director. Particular areas of focus during her career have involved working with companies who are developing their culture and undergoing significant change.

Anne has carried out a number of roles at The Royal Mint. Starting as the HR Director, she then went on to lead the core Business services in the organisation for a number of years before becoming Director of Consumer for The Royal Mint in 2015. Anne was proud to be part of the team that launched the organisation’s new visitor attraction, The Royal Mint Experience, in May 2016 which received over 100,000 visitors in its first year. On 16 February 2018, Anne was appointed as Chief Executive.

Anne has led the strategic diversification of the business, resulting in significant growth based on understanding customers and delivering the services and products that meet their needs. This has included: Secure Storage, Gifting, Historics, increasing coin collectors, expanding international relationships, and tourism within The Royal Mint Experience.

“I’m really looking forward to LeadHerShip Business and working with a young woman for the day. I think that often it’s the barriers about what you think you can do that can hold women back so I hope to inspire confidence and a sense of how to overcome this with the successful candidate. To me it’s not just diversity in terms of whether you are male or female, but what skills do you have, what background do you have.”

The institution is the world’s leading export mint, producing up to 90millin coins every week. There are over 900 people employed at its headquarters in Llantrisant, which operates round-the-clock for 52 weeks a year.
Sian Powell, Chief Exec, Golwg in Lampeter

Sian is the Chief Executive of Golwg, the company produces the only weekly current affairs and news magazine in Wales and the daily news website golwg360 along with a children’s magazine WCW and Lingo Newydd, a magazine for Welsh learners. The company is currently undertaking an ambitious task of building a network of ‘papurau bro’ to lessen the local democratic deficit. Prior to taking on this role in August 2019, Sian worked as an independent communication and research consultant and as a journalism lecturer at Cardiff University.

“I’m really looking forward to LeadHerShip Business and working with a young woman for the day. I like to think that I would have benefitted from a scheme like this in the past, so I will make every effort to inspire confidence in the successful candidate along with a good sense of how to develop leadership skills and a determination to achieve her ambitions.”

Golwg is the only weekly news and current affairs magazine in Wales and the only Welsh-language news magazine. The Golwg360 website offers daily Welsh and international news in the Welsh.
Sioned Morys, Director, Chwarel Independent Film and Radio in Criccieth

Twenty years ago Sioned took a chance: she remortgaged her house, bought a camera and set up independent television production company Chwarel.

Having spent much of her career in England as camera director and assistant producer for the likes of the BBC and Granada, she returned to Wales to try to make it on her own. She believes that while Welsh programmes are good, we are not good at selling ourselves, that having a good idea is only half the story, and that it is the combination of creativity with entrepreneurship which is important.

With such canny business sense, it’s no surprise that Sioned’s gamble paid off and Chwarel now employs 10 full- time members of staff and a further 15 on a freelance basis.

“I hope my story will teach people that anything is possible. I remember failing my sciences A-levels and thinking the world was at an end, yet for years, I have now run and owned a successful company. Failure taught me there is always another way.

“I’m really looking forward to LeadHerShip Business and working with a young woman for the day. I like to think that I would have benefitted from a scheme like this in the past, so I will make every effort to inspire confidence in the successful candidate along with a good sense of how to take knock backs on the chin but keep a determination to learn from them and grow.”