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Women Leadership & Sustainability Education Program

(RE)WATCH THE ‘UNESCO & WOMEN@DIOR: DREAM FOR CHANGE’ E-CONFERENCE

By joining forces with UNESCO for a unique event, the Maison Dior renewed its commitment to a sustainable and inclusive society. Broadcast digitally from the heart of UNESCO’s emblematic amphitheater, this exclusive event celebrated the launch of the 2021 UNESCO & Women@Dior: Women Leadership & Sustainability program and the awarding of diplomas to the class of 2020. 1.500+ young women from twenty-five countries attended this e-conference - as well as more than 15.000 viewers - organized around meaningful themes such as gender equality and self-knowledge, a unique opportunity to spread the power of sisterhood around the world by giving inspiring voices a platform.

WOMEN@DIOR,
A UNIQUE PROGRAM

Created in 2017, Women@Dior is a unique international mentoring & educational program that has coached and helped blossom thousands of young women all over the world. The program is a unique occasion to learn what is not taught: self-confidence and to dare for your career destiny. The participants are selected from the best business, engineering, art and fashion schools spanning across almost 25 different countries such as France, China, Nigeria, Kenya, Costa Rica, Brazil, Iran and Bangladesh just to name a few. Through the educational program, they are trained by inspiring leaders and stakeholders on several themes such as gender equality and women’s leadership for a sustainable future. The Mentees will be guided by their Dior Mentors as they take their first steps in their careers and whilst they build their professional experience.

Each Mentee/Mentor duo shares an exclusive relationship and are matched through an innovative approach based on their compatibility.

The program is built on 5 core values :

  • Self-Care & Self-Awareness: Learning to know yourself in order to self-assert, transform, transcend precepts, deconstruct archetypes and enhance inner growth. Connecting body and mind to be able to shine. All of these values and approaches are ones that the House of Dior and UNESCO hold dear, for self-revelation and cultivating singularity; dynamic empowerment, driven by sisterhood, dialogue and cultural curiosity.
  • Autonomy: Autonomy is necessary for self-affirmation and accountability for our own actions. Access to freedom is an essential foundation for conceiving and creating ethical ways of living together. No impediment to freedom is justifiable, because freedom alone makes creativity possible.
  • Creativity: Creativity encourages innovation and inspires ideas for a more responsible future, a healthier and therefore more serene and resilient planet. A passion for culture, heritage and the most contemporary creations are at the heart of Dior’s values. They help us to dream, to come up with visionary solutions that are ever more stimulating and conscious of tomorrow’s major issues, be they ecological, economic or societal.
  • Inclusion: Inclusion lends everyone a voice, offering them a legitimate, respected place in society. It is urgent to transform our differences into a source of inestimable richness, to broaden our horizons personally and culturally, and to reveal talents that enhance creativity, autonomy and long-term social responsibility.
  • Sustainable Development: Faced with the inadequacy of past initiatives, sustainable development is essential in rethinking and (re)creating today’s world, for preserving the diversity of nature and protecting that of the people who live in it, whatever their origins or social milieu. Education, like culture, is at the heart of this apprenticeship and value system; both are indispensable.

UNESCO & Women@Dior: Women Leadership & Sustainability Education Program

This initiative highlights the crucial importance of education in imagining a more sustainable and united world. Through the exchange of knowledge, this program will enable young women to build a better future by developing their autonomy.

Combining high standards and excellence, this multilayered and ethically conscious year-long program is open to +500 international students and is based on the four core values of Women@Dior – Autonomy, Inclusion, Creativity and Sustainability, which are taught through exclusive courses led by professors chosen from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including Central Saint Martins in London, Bocconi University in Milan, and HEC and Centrale Supélec in Paris ; as well as inspiring international speakers who are experts in their fields.

Following the coursework, participants are invited to put what they have learnt into practice by creating a project that supports the empowerment of young girls - the “Dream for Change” project.

THE 4 FOUNDATIONS OF THE PROGRAM

  • A unique mentoring program to accompany young women to become tomorrow’s leaders under the guidance of a promising Dior Talent (either a woman or a man).
  • A state-of-the-art online education program empowering young women to imagine and build a more sustainable and responsible future through exclusive courses led by professors chosen from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions.
  • A local and concrete project to put learnings into practice by creating an initiative that supports the empowerment of young girls: the Dream for Change project.
  • A community based on sorority connected by locally-activated events and supported by an online group

A program part of UNESCO’s Global Coalition for Education

Dior joined UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition in 2020 on World Youth Skills Day, becoming the first couture house to do so, by opening its Women@Dior program to over 200 talented young female students from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. It is a concrete commitment to give disadvantaged young women around the world the opportunity to receive an education, which is of utmost importance when taking into account society’s stakes and the global health crisis.

“Talent is universal, but opportunity is not, especially for a generation of young women whose education has been severely affected by the pandemic. By joining the Global Coalition with an initiative that empowers and carries promise for the future, the Dior couture house is sending a strong message of commitment and confidence, giving young women from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to fulfill their dreams”

Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education
© Christian Dior Couture
© Christian Dior Couture

TESTIMONIES MENTEES

“This program has really inspired the young women. For us real life involves competing, dreaming and loving. I’m so happy to have met so many talented women from around the world and to have learnt something from them. I hope there will be more contact in the future and that we can build a bridge between women from different countries.”

Thank you for giving us such a marvellous experience at the launch. It was a real pleasure to learn a bit of Maison Dior’s history. I would like to thank all the people I met during the program for their reception and their exceptional care which was far beyond what I was expecting.”

“I was very impressed with how us students were treated by both Maison Dior and their mentors. It was formal and polite. More importantly everyone had a respectful attitude towards each other. Even though I’m only a young student and participating as a mentee, each supervisor and mentor had a positive attitude and was open to what I said and asked. The atmosphere was both formal and luxurious and I really felt Dior’s trademark image. It was a precious experience.”

“The Women@Dior event was such an amazing and formative experience. The workshops and speakers at the event really put into perspective the unique challenges and triumphs that we face as women in the workforce and how we can overcome societal barriers to make our mark on the world. These lessons, as well as the strong connections I was able to make with fellow mentees and mentors, made for a truly unforgettable experience.”

TIMELINE 2021

Global E-Conference
March 2021
The mentoring
Mentorship of all Mentees thanks to the coaching and support of promising Dior talents.
All Year
The women Leadership & Sustainability Education Platform
A dedicated platform featuring +15 courses designed exclusively for Mentees by a panel of renowned professors and personalities around the four core values of autonomy, inclusion, creativity and sustainable development.
April – September 2021
The Dream for Change Project
Following theoretical coursework, launch of a practical case study so that Mentees put what they learned into practice by creating a local and concrete project that supports the empowerment of young girls.
September - January 2022
The inspiring Meet-Up
Mentees are able to meet with outstanding public figures to discuss women’s empowerment and gender equality.
All year
Women @ Dior Paris

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

The UNESCO & Women@Dior: Women Leadership & Sustainability program is an invitation-only program. All participants are selected based on three criteria: talent, ambition and generosity. They are all young women full of promise and potential who are united in the notion that their professional success is related to the sorority.

  • The easiest way to apply and be selected for the program is through Dior Partner Universities. The preliminary selection is carried out by the university which is then reviewed and approved by the Dior HR team and Mentors.
  • Students who are not from one of the Partner Universities can also apply to take part in the initiative online by outlining their motivation and demonstrating their uniqueness on womenatdior.com

The applications for the 2021 promotion are now closed. Please visit our website again at the end of the year for more information regarding the 2022 intake.

“Women, who have such strong natural instinct, must have understood that I not only dreamed of making them more beautiful, but also happier.”

Monsieur Christian Dior, « Christian Dior and I »