The importance of mentoring and networking for women leaders and the opportunities to develop digital competences

The event "I WANT. I CAN. I WILL. Empower your leader: sharing (un)successes" on 7 October brought together around 80 participants, mostly women leaders and career-minded professionals. It shared leadership and mentoring experiences and discussed career challenges, including digital competence. The event was moderated by Vida Drąsutė, Head of the “DIGIGEN” project of Lithuanian public institution “eMundus” and head of the Alumni Centre of Kaunas University of Technology, and Aida Zigmantavičienė, a member of the Lithuanian women leaders association called "Leader", mentor, and a leader with extensive leadership experience in business.

The first presentations highlighted the importance of mentoring for professional growth. For example, Aušra Bijaminienė and Inma Rodriguez emphasized the value of mentoring in overcoming professional challenges. Kristina Ukvalbergienė shared her personal career story and stressed the importance of continuous learning, while Dovilė Končak discussed obstacles as important steps on the path to leadership.

The discussion moderated by the head of the Association "Leader" and attended by 5 speakers delved into the leadership journey and gender equality in the labor market. The third part of the event was devoted to practical conversations in "Talking Stations with Women Leaders". Here, participants were able to talk directly to female leaders and get advice on career opportunities, learn about their digital competences and get tips on the tools they use in management.

The DigiGen project's station, where the topic of digital competences and the importance of digital competences for companies and their employees was discussed, attracted many participants. Digitalization not only requires digital skills, but also involves new working and learning models and innovative ways of problem solving and decision making in companies, at all levels of management. Vida Drąsutė presented digital tools to facilitate management tasks, including artificial intelligence solutions.

Digital competences were highlighted as essential for modern companies or for every leader in his/her work, communication and management process. Participants were interested in the DigiGen project material and the possibility to participate in additional training to deepen their digital skills.

The event left a deep impression and encouraged women to be more courageous in their goals and to grow professionally.