/ËleÉȘdimeÉȘts/
Noun: ladymate; plural noun: ladymates
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Noun: A woman who possesses the inner belief that she was made for greatness. She is courageous, clever and powerful and envisions a world where her career brings inspiration, impact and safety.Â
Plural noun: The thriving and magnetic collective of women (past, present and future) who have come through Startmate. These women are comrades; driven to grow, learn and build each other up. They are hungry to tackle the worldâs greatest challenges and will do it together.Â
Origin: The word âLadymatesâ was first coined in a meeting amongst the women of the Startmate team. They wanted a space to gather, share personal and professional challenges, offer advice and have a yarn. Every month, these women meet, learn, grow and VIBE. It is a safe space where they come together authentically and honestly.
âLadymatesâ is a community of mateship, growth, and support. Its strength lies in the collective of intelligent, passionate and driven women who make it whole. It is a vehicle for change and will soon become the most powerful community of women in ANZâs startup ecosystem.Â
Weâre removing hurdles, clearing pathways and destabilising gender inequality as we know it.
In time, women will succeed not in spite of their gender, but because of it. That means thousands of women will be choosing and landing their dream role in startups. Women will be getting equal promotions to their male counterparts. Theyâll be emerging as leaders into diverse leadership teams where there are no gender hurdles and they have strong relationships with other women in leadership positions. âFemale foundersâ are quite simply: Founders. Founders who are wildly successful in solving the worldâs biggest problems, making an impact on a global level and there is no longer a funding gap.
This translates to an industry-wide gender revolution, where the tech industry in ANZ is the gold standard for diversity, equity and inclusion across all industries. Australia and New Zealand will be countries where women are leading more impactful and fulfilling lives, and are at the forefront of driving meaningful change in society.
On a global scale, Australia and New Zealand are cited as the best places in the world to build a startup, and the diversity of the teams and founders have been a driving force to achieve that. ANZ are known as the underdogs that moved the needle for diversity in tech and are the poster girls for what great looks like. This has translated to the most successful solutions to the worldâs biggest challenges being built right here in ANZ by some of the worldâs most ambitious women.Â
Come join the revolution.
Women Fellowship
The Women Fellowship is designed to demystify the world of startups and empower more women to pursue a career they love. In 8 weeks we'll share the endless and inspiring opportunities available in tech, how to transfer the skills you have into a new role, build your confidence, and provide actionable steps to go after the job you deserve. Think 1:1 coaching, workshops with startup leaders, community events and more. This is for women with little or no startup experience who are actively looking to land a job in startups or VCs.Â
Ladymates Leadership
Ladymates leadership is designed to empower emerging leaders as they grow in their company. Currently, women are the minority in leadership positions -how do you navigate board meetings, assert your influence and make an impact as a leader, navigate the ever changing day-to-day challenges? Weâre removing the bottlenecks, providing exclusive membership for emerging leaders to meet and learn from women who have walked the path before.
Ladymates Students
We want to see a world where young women actively pursue a career in startups and tech. Currently, tech is not seen as a legitimate or aspirational career pathway. So weâre starting young. Weâre activating high school and uni students who will be the next generation of women to join the movement and dream wild and big. These women will pioneer gender diversity in tech and represent the new wave of female founders, investors and operators in startups
Ladymates Collective
Ladymates Collective is a curated membership helping women upskill, connect, and grow in their career alongside other rising stars in the ANZ startup ecosystem. You'll gain access to skill-building masterclasses, exclusive social events, peer-driven advisory groups and role-based mentorship to help you thrive in your startup role.
Ladymates Coaching
If you're interested in building a more diverse ecosystem, and have experience working in a startup, apply to be a Coach. Ladymates Coaching is about supporting women in startups to reach their full potential - from landing their first startup internship as students, first startup jobs as experienced hires, or excelling in leadership. Come help the women who are a few steps behind you.Â
Ladymates Founders
We want more women founders and we want them now. But there are countless hurdles to overcome on the founding journey many of which result in wasted potential and unrealised dreams. From investor bias during fundraising to customer belief. We want to give female founders a tight knit network of role models, peers, and mentors who have faced the same challenges with actionable solutions and support to set you up for success. Startmate Accelerator and Launch Club have dedicated support for women founders and we will continue to build this out to best support you.
We appreciate that diversity goes beyond just gender, and gender diversity goes beyond just supporting women. However, if we aim to be everything to everyone, we will be nothing to no one. Instead of lumping everyone who is âotherâ into one group, we want to build truly beneficial solutions specifically tailored to one underrepresented group at a time. In the long term, weâd like to address other facets of disadvantage as well. In the short term, we will continue to offer scholarships to those who face additional aspects of intersectional disadvantage (around â of program participants are on a scholarship!).
Weâre a small team trying to make the biggest impact possible, so weâre starting with the biggest pool. Women represent 51% of the ANZ population, so supporting women is the facet of underrepresentation that we have decided to start with. Itâs a numbers game, and weâre out to make the biggest impact possible.
Weâve considered the fact that the word âladyâ may not sit well with some. But whatâs in a name? A name is just a name, what's more important is what we do with it.Â
We have the power to redefine words and thatâs why we have. Ladymates is one word. You can read the definition and etymology above. Ultimately we believe this name is the most authentic and honest representation of what weâre trying to achieve.
Possibly! Possibly not. We value feedback and weâre all ears. If you have any feedback, questions, or ideas please share them with us or book a time to chat.