Name: Rising Leaders | Identifying Your Mentoring Needs (AMER)
Start: 2025-03-13T17:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-03-13T19:00:00+00:00

AMER

Rising Leaders

You know mentoring can help shape your career—but how often do you stop to ask yourself: What do I actually need from a mentor?

Our March Rising Leaders session is all about getting clear on the answers.

Guest Speaker

Abbie Cowan, Chief People Officer, World Education Services

This session will help to:

Identify the gaps you’re facing and where the right mentor could make a difference.
Figure out who to approach—and how to build connections that lead to real support.
Turn those relationships into something meaningful for your growth and future progression.

We’ve all heard about the power of mentorship – and you may already have a mentoring relationship—but this session goes deeper. With insights from our inspiring guest speaker, plus time for breakouts and group discussion, you’ll leave this session with practical steps to seek out and secure the right support for you.

It’s about being intentional—recognizing where you need support and building the kind of relationships that move your career forward.

Accept your calendar invitation and we’ll see you there!

Abbie Cowan

World Education Services

Chief People Officer

Abbie Cowan is a human resources executive with decades of experience leading people strategy in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She is currently the Chief People Officer at World Education Services, a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping immigrants, refugees, and international students achieve economic, social, and educational inclusion in the United States and Canada.

She is a pragmatic executive people leader who has spent years leading international teams globally, focused on driving people strategies and initiatives using a coaching mindset to develop teams and leaders to foster inclusive, people-centered work cultures.

Prior to WES, she spent 10 years at Atos, a global leader in digital transformation. As Senior Vice President of HR and Global Chief Diversity Officer at Atos, Abbie worked closely with senior leaders and staff around the world.

She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She is also a certified executive coach, an NLP Practitioner, and a graduate of executive leadership programs at HEC and INSEAD, Paris. Abbie received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Warwick and a master’s degree from the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University).

Abbie was announced the winner of the WeQual Awards, Europe, Middle East, and Africa 2023, in the People category. She is also a lifetime member of WeQual Executives and WeQual Champion.

Emma Hicks

WeQual

VP of Memberships and Programs

Emma is an experienced strategic leader, specializing in professional development at C-suite and senior management levels. With a track record for delivering solutions across a broad range of global sectors and industries, Emma brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for continuing professional development.

Emma is a Fellow and Advisory Board Member of the Learning Performance Institute (LPI), holds certifications from the Institute of Directors (IoD) and Association for Talent Development (ATD), and is a former Education Committee member at the European Confederation of Directors Associations (ecoDa).

Emma spent nearly a decade with the Institute of Directors leading the strategic direction of the IoD’s global professional development courses including the prestigious Chartered Director qualification. After leaving the IoD, Emma joined HR technology and services company, Connectr, initially as interim COO, and then permanently as Chief Commercial Officer. Now, Emma is Director of Global Membership and Programs at WeQual, an organisation on a mission to drive equality in the world’s largest organisations. Emma’s role at WeQual aligns beautifully with her core values and purpose – supporting women and all talent to achieve their career goals, and organisations to thrive through inclusive leadership practice.
Emma also spent five years with Reed Learning as their Strategic Partnership Manager, working with over 100 clients, external partners, and awarding bodies. During this time, Emma also designed and delivered learning programs, including internationally recognized qualifications.

Outside of WeQual, Emma has a young family (8-year-old Joshua, 6-year-old Jasmine, and a recent ‘furbaby’ addition, Monty the cockapoo), who keep her equally busy, active and above all grateful.