The announcement was made at a leadership development workshop organised by WAN-IFRA LATAM on 30 October in the Colombian city of Bogotá. The leadership accelerator is aimed at women media professionals. Those selected will acquire new skills through group training and coaching sessions to develop their professional roadmap.
The 30 media professionals, selected from among 115 applicants, who are developing their careers in the media in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, were there.
“WAN-IFRA is pleased to launch the second edition of the WIN Latam programme in partnership with the Google News Initiative. This programme, focused on supporting the professional development of women executives in Latin American media companies, is based on the experience and knowledge acquired over 10 years of training women media leaders in WAN-IFRA’s Women in the News Programme worldwide. It will be a new opportunity, after our great experience in 2022, to support the professional growth of these future leaders by providing inspiring spaces and the knowledge of new tools,” said Olga Britto, Director for Ibero-America at WAN-IFRA.
The professionals selected to participate in the second edition of WIN LATAM are:
Josefina Alen (Olé/Argentina), Patricia Valli (El Cronista/Argentina), Sofía Sandoval (LM Neuquén/Argentina), Fernanda Kobelinsky (Infobae/Argentina), Florencia Rodríguez Altube (La Nación/Argentina), Magalí Suárez (El Litoral/Argentina), Adriana Santagati (Clarín/Argentina), Jessica Tamyres Dos Santos (Ponte Jornalismo), Tatiana Duque Restrepo (La Silla Vacía/Colombia), Mónica Rivera Rueda (El Espectador/Colombia), Margaret Sánchez (La Patria/Colombia), Laura Anaya (El Universal/Colombia), Lucía Navas (Expediente Público/Costa Rica), Mónica Cecilia Orozco Medina (Primicias/Ecuador), Yesica Marlene Cadea Grande (El Sol de México/Mexico), Diana Zaragoza Dominguez (El Heraldo/Mexico), Liliana Berenice Cavazos Regalado (ABC/Mexico), Shayra Albanil Reyes (Periódico AM/Mexico), Imelda Vera (Radio Fórmula/Mexico), Karla Guadarrama (Vanguardia/Mexico), Jazmín Acuña (El Surti/Paraguay), Gisella Salmón Salazar (El Comercio/Perú), Gloria Ziegler (Ojo Público/Perú), Heidee Rolón (El Nuevo Día/Puerto Rico), Ayeza Díaz (El Vocero/Puerto Rico), Danielis Fermin Mendoza (Revista El Dinero Mujer/Dominican Republic), Deborah Friedmann (El País/Uruguay), Cecilia Álvarez (La Diaria/Uruguay), Yakary Prado (Runrunes/Venezuela) and Bárbara Lugo (El Pitazo/Venezuela),
“The Google News Initiative believes in the importance of promoting the leadership of women editors and journalists in the media throughout the region and the world. Through the creation of programmes and spaces such as WIN, Women in the News, led by WAN-IFRA, we can share practices, ways of thinking and innovative tools to strengthen journalism and the news industry in the digital era,” said Constanza Niebuhr, manager of relations with the news industry in Latin America.
During the meeting held at Google’s facilities in Bogotá, the professionals had the opportunity to participate in activities guided and facilitated by the programme’s coaches, where they worked on key aspects of decision-making through a series of activities that concluded with the creation and visualisation of a future action plan.
They also had the opportunity to attend a session that included the development of soft skills such as effective time management and conducting smart meetings.
As part of the training day, participants also attended a talk organised by Google on women’s leadership in the communications and journalism industry, and participated in a talk on the Google News Initiative where they learned about tools, free courses available and programmes that aim to help digital journalism thrive and provide journalists and media outlets with online resources to fight misinformation and also create a diverse and innovative news ecosystem.
Challenges of the programme
One of the main objectives of the programme is for each participant to be able to design a 3-5-year career plan. The process will be carried out with the support of strategic coaches who, in a personalised way and during seven meetings, will guide them in creating their professional roadmap.
The programme’s working methodology also includes developing 10 group training sessions led by industry leaders. Among the areas selected to enhance the professional profile are leadership, product and innovation, team management, artificial intelligence, finance for non-financial managers, management of journalistic companies, change management, marketing and advertising, discrimination and inclusive policies in the media and tackling violence and protocols.
The first edition of WIN LATAM, launched in 2022 and completed in January 2023, achieved significant changes and impacts that allowed participants to reflect on their present and future professional lives, strengthen key aspects of leadership and acquire new ones.
The coaching process within the programme proved to be innovative. Six months after the end of the first edition, 90% of those who went through the training and coaching process continue to work and guide their careers on what was designed in their professional roadmap. And 100% said they will continue to use it as a tool to guide their career decision-making.
ABOUT WAN-IFRA. The World Association of News Publishers, or WAN-IFRA, is the global organisation of the world’s press. Our mission is to protect the rights of journalists and editors around the world to operate independent news media. We provide our members with the knowledge and services to innovate and thrive in the digital world and to carry out their crucial role in society. WAN-IFRA’s authority comes from its global network of 3,000 news organisations and technology entrepreneurs, and its legitimacy emanates from its 60 media associations representing 18,000 publications in 120 countries.
WIN (Women in News) has been working for more than ten years with more than 80 news organisations in 17 countries in three regions, including Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe (WIN Africa); Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine (WIN Arab Region); and Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia (WIN Southeast Asia). The mission of WAN-IFRA’s WIN is to increase women’s leadership and voices in news by equipping women journalists and editors with the skills, strategies and support networks to assume greater leadership positions within their organisations.