Rising Leaders Pilot Success

In partnership with the FA, Association of Colleges was able to pilot the brand-new Rising Leaders programme, aimed at creating learning opportunities for girls of black, Asian and mixed heritage communities within colleges. Over the past four months, the girls were able to learn and develop their employability skills, to become more positive and confident members of their community while building resilience and helping them being motivated to achieve. The aim is to encourage and support the girls to become future leaders within football.

The programme introduces eight key areas:

• Building personal capacity
• Motivation to achieve
• Powerful communication
• Planning, organising and delivering
• Resilience and adaptability
• Collaborative teamwork
• Creating solutions
• Providing leadership

The girls were invited to three in-person sessions that were held at inspiring venues such as Wembley, Lord's & the London Stadium and two online sessions.

Chelsea Mulheir, AoC National Women’s Football Development Officer said: “This year we were able to pilot Rising Leaders, a new programme to engage future female leaders within football from black, Asian and mixed heritage communities within colleges.

“Over the course of four months we engaged with 14 females across the programme and we saw these girls develop their leadership skills and gain confidence within themselves and their ability. The girls provided us with a great insight into what they would like to see on future programmes and some of the barriers they face on a daily basis.

“With the help of these girls we hope we can use their knowledge and experiences to shape future programmes and engage with even more future female leaders.

“Congratulations to all the girls who have successfully taken part in the Rising Leaders Programme. A decision will be made in the coming months about running the programme again, so please keep an eye on our website for further updates.”