Our newest graduates; Ethnic Future Leader programme

Last month, we congratulated Senior Data Scientist Olinda Gomes and Onboard Revenue and Planning Manager Nilofer Hasham as they graduated from Women in Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure’s (WiTHL) Ethnic Future Leader Programme.

WIHTL is just one of several organisations with whom we partner to guide and support us in our efforts to be known and chosen as an inclusive employer. Their Ethnic Future Leaders Programme (EFL) aims to improve ethnic diversity in leadership through identifying and investing in existing high potential employers from diverse ethnic backgrounds and supporting their progression into more senior roles across Hospitality, Travel, Leisure and Retail. Each participant is matched with an internal Executive Sponsor and reverse mentors an external senior leader to help them improve their knowledge and growth as an ally.  Participants also join a number of workshops to hear from industry experts and diverse role models which has the additional benefit of expanding personal networks in our industry.

“The main thing I learnt on the EFL programme is that I am not alone,” explains Nil, who has been with Carnival UK for six years. “There are others like me are feeling the same way and facing similar challenges, and that we can be successful while being true to ourselves. I have earned my way to where I am and I shouldn’t have to compromise my authenticity to fit in. I feel my imposter syndrome has dramatically reduced and I want to keep aiming for more, reaching for more opportunities in my career. My mentee was really interested in my experiences and I felt privileged to be able to in some small way be a positive influence for individuals similar to myself in that organisation.”

Olinda, who has just been promoted, shared “It was very important to me to listen to people from similar backgrounds talk about what they went through and how they were able to overcome it. It was very motivational and inspiring and it made me willing to take more risks and accept opportunities to be able to progress my career. It encouraged me to apply for a more senior role that I have spent so much time doubting and was about to lose the opportunity.”

Hannah Leach, VP Culture, Talent and Learning was Olinda’s Executive sponsor and said: “The role of a sponsor is all about helping emerging talent progress in an organisation by giving them access to a wider professional network and relationships, and advocating for their skills and experience when appropriate opportunities arise. I’ve loved getting to know Olinda and have been able to point her to the different opportunities there are in the business to get to know more people and improve her visibility. She’s really pushed herself to get the most out of the programme – she’s been very committed to her development the personal and professional benefits for her are evident.

“I’ve also been working with a reverse mentor outside of the organisation which has really important for my own development, especially given my role. In a professional corporate environment, there are many assumptions about how people need to be in order to be seen as having potential and those characteristics are not necessarily of equal value or are nurtured in all cultures. Hearing real life examples of how that plays out in day-to-day working life reminded me of the importance of really seeing everyone and valuing their different approaches.”