Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and SINDA President, Ms Indranee Rajah, on 13 May 2023 launched Mentorship to Let Her Shine!, a programme that aims to nurture the career aspirations of young Singaporean Indian women, by providing them with career mentoring and access to female role models.
The mentorship programme adopts a women-for-women model, with Indian women professionals mentoring young women. Through such opportunities, SINDA also aims to highlight the professionals, as role models for the community and younger generations.
The yearlong programme will match young Singapore women aged 20 to 35 with mentors from industries that they are passionate in. The mentors will provide coaching on key skills, leadership attributes and specialised knowledge in specific industries. The programme initially involves 28 mentors, each of whom will provide guidance to up to two mentees. More mentors are expected to join the programme in the later stages.
“They are all leaders in their respective fields, with a wealth of knowledge and experience, driven by talents and dedication. They have broken boundaries and forged paths for themselves, and they now look forward to guiding the next generation of women to similar, if not greater heights,” Ms Indranee said.
“I’m heartened by these mentors’ passion to give back to society and I’m grateful that each one is volunteering time and energy towards this mentorship,” she added.
“They have broken boundaries and forged paths for themselves, and they now look forward to guiding the next generation of women to similar, if not greater heights…”
– Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and SINDA President, Ms Indranee Rajah
Chairperson of SINDA’s Indian Women Development Taskforce, Ms Praveen Randhawa, said, “The world today is increasingly complex and disruption is constant. It is critical to be able to successfully navigate challenges and this requires a combination of both soft and hard skills.
Mentorship to Let Her Shine! complements SINDA’s other mentorship programmes, such as Mentor Me, a programme focused on youths pursuing tertiary education, and ITEnable Corporate Mentoring, which helps ITE students gain real-world professional exposure.
At the launch, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was also signed between SG Her Empowerment (SHE) and SINDA, extending SINDA’s partnerships with organisations that focus on women empowerment. The agreement will include short-term placements at various public and private agencies for young women to gain corporate exposure, and training to build their professional skills and knowledge.
Ms Simran Toor, CEO of SG Her Empowerment touched on the need for close cooperation between stakeholders and the larger community, “At SHE, we strive to empower girls and women in Singapore, so that they can meet their best potential. As the journey to a fairer and more equal Singapore is a whole-of-society effort, SHE works closely with the community and stakeholders to make this happen.”
Both initiatives were introduced to commemorate the one-year anniversary of ‘Let Her Shine!’ (LHS), which SINDA launched in May 2022 to empower and encourage the aspirations of Singapore Indian women. To date, 550 girls and young women, aged 7 to 35 have benefitted from its programmes and workshops, focused on personal development, character building and instilling lifelong skills in participants. The programme aims to support the development of 1,300 girls and young women in 2023.
LHS complements the recommendations of a 2022 white paper on Singapore women’s development. The White Paper had highlighted the underrepresentation and lack of awareness for women leaders among female peers, which Mentorship to Let Her Shine! aims to address.
One participant of LHS programmes, including the STEMentorship programme is 20-year-old Ms Murugesan Karparatshambigai. She said: “As I am currently pursuing a Diploma in Health Management & Promotion, I found the STEMentorship programme eye-opening as I learnt about alternative career pathways that I could explore. With the launch of Mentorship to Let Her Shine!, I look forward to meeting successful women leaders who can further my career aspirations in the healthcare industry, and whom I can look up to for inspiration.”
Comment on this TopicTo date, 550 girls and young women, aged 7 to 35 have benefitted from its programmes and workshops, focused on personal development, character building and instilling lifelong skills in participants. The programme aims to support the development of 1,300 girls and young women in 2023.”
