Over the next 12-weeks, 110 women who are working to launch and grow sustainable businesses in the media, digital, technology and creative sectors in the North West will be supported to kick-start their careers as freelancers.
The programme, launched in November 2020 by IN4.0 with The Landing, has now started. Giving an unparalleled opportunity to 110 women, 10 more than anticipated due to the high volume and quality of applications, to succeed in these challenging times.
For the next 12-weeks, weekly workshops and peer to peer mentoring conducted by some of the UK’s best female micro-businesses and freelance professionals will empower participants to create, innovate, learn and grow. The programme is also supported by an online community platform from My2Be.
Peer to peer mentoring will be led by experts including Viv Parry, Board Advisor & Finance Director of Daletech Electronics, and Annette Joseph, Diverse & Equal Founder and Agile Coach.
FreelanceHER 100 ambassadors include Sarah Townsend, Author of Survival Skills for Freelancers, and Tina Boden Co-Founder Micro-biz Matters Day & Micro Business Expert.
Community and diversity are at the heart of FreelanceHER 100; the accelerator empowers women who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic to be strong leaders, create powerful enterprises, and influence and shape the world through their companies.
With access to The Landing’s facilities, networking opportunities and equipped with skills, self-belief, and confidence, they will be able to pursue their ambitions as freelancers and benefit from collaboration, community and innovation.
By the end of the programme, the aspiring freelancers will have catalysed their entrepreneurial career change. With the help of workshop leaders and mentors, participants will experiment with freelancing business ideas by building traction before pursuing them full-time, launching their early-stage businesses, focusing on growing them or securing funding.
FreelanceHER 100 is a fully funded programme. In order to support businesses in Greater Manchester, The Landing is working with GC Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company. The Hub assists businesses at all stages of their growth journey with a broad range of services, including one-to-one and peer-to-peer support, events, specialist programmes and funding. The Hub is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.
Mo Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group, operator of The Landing, said “We have made a commitment to supporting those who have been impacted by the pandemic. FreelanceHER 100 will champion and help make real the dreams of entrepreneurial women many of whom are from a BAME background, the demographic hardest hit by the pandemic, in the challenging task of setting up as freelancers and business owners. Many have lost their jobs to COVID but have turned adversity into opportunity, which we will help them realise.
“I am excited and very proud for us now to be starting the programme, I know we are going to have some amazing successes to celebrate very soon.
Naomi Timperley, FreelanceHER 100 Programme Director and Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2020, said “I lost my full-time job during the first month of the first lockdown and went back to freelancing. Working as the programme lead on FreelanceHER 100 has been a labour of love. I relate to everyone who has signed up for the programme and I am extremely excited to start. I look forward to welcoming the cohort and helping them start their freelancing careers.”
Ambassador & Mentor on the programme Annette Joseph, Founder of Diverse & Equal, said “‘When women are empowered, all of society benefits.’ Asha-Rose Migiro. I’m thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking programme designed to help creative women achieve their dreams and improve our world. Can’t wait to get started.”
Sarah Townsend, Author of Survival Skills for Freelancers, added “As a FreelanceHER 100 ambassador and mentor I’m excited to get stuck in and meet the amazing women we’re supporting! These are tough times for businesses everywhere, so I’m delighted to be involved in a programme that has the power to bring about not only hope but tangible positive change.”
