More than 25 women from different theatres across Ibero-America will have the opportunity to participate as mentees in the OLA Women’s Forum Mentorship Programme, an initiative supported by the Chilean organisation Mujeres Empresarias. During the second half of 2025, the selected women will take part in three personalised sessions in which OLA mentors will guide them on specific aspects of their professional development.

They work in areas such as directing, education, props, marketing, partnerships and even archives, documentation or museology, and come from theatres in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

The 29 women selected as mentees for the OLA Women’s Forum Mentorship Programme will form the first generation of women to receive guidance and training from mentors and theatre leaders from Ibero-American institutions belonging to the Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA) network.

This stage of the programme will take place during the second half of 2025 and will consist of three personalised sessions in which the professionals selected as mentees will receive support and guidance from their assigned mentors in areas such as theatre management, stage direction, administration and finance, human resources, communication and/or marketing, and other specialisations within the performing arts.

“Although more than half of the theatres, festivals and companies that are part of OLA are led by women, it is necessary to create spaces that foster new leadership and new forms of professional development among women. We believe that one of the best ways to achieve this is by encouraging networking and collaboration between people, which are among the values that characterise our network. Ultimately, this initiative is a call to tell many women that they are not alone in their professional development, and that support and the synergy of talents among women professionals in our industry are possible when we promote coordination and good practices,” says Paulina Ricciardi, Executive Director of OLA.

One of the first stages of the programme involved the support of the organisation Mujeres Empresarias in providing training and preparation for OLA’s mentors. Through working sessions and supporting materials, knowledge, practices and strategies were shared so that the mentors would have the necessary tools to carry out the mentoring process.

“What OLA is doing is unique. The fact that women from the creative industries across different parts of Ibero-America are voluntarily participating in order to build their careers and receive support and guidance from experts speaks to the urgency of identifying role models and recognising the leaders who have paved the way for new generations. Having mentors of the calibre of Carmen Gloria Larenas, Andrea Caruso, Flavia Furtado, Silvana Moreno or Yalilé Cardona, among many others, is undoubtedly unprecedented and further validates the mission promoted by OLA, encouraging collaborative work among theatres, companies and festivals across Ibero-America and the Caribbean,” says Nicole Forttes, Entrepreneurship Manager at Mujeres Empresarias.

The OLA Women’s Forum Mentorship Programme also included a selection committee to evaluate the more than 40 applications received and to assign mentors to their respective mentees. Among the women who formed part of this committee was Trinidad Zaldívar, adviser and former head of the Creativity and Culture Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

“I have had the privilege of accompanying a unique process: bringing together extraordinary women from the world of opera and the performing arts across Ibero-America, creating connections that cross generations, countries and disciplines. This mentorship network not only strengthens professional growth, but also opens paths of trust, leadership and collaboration among those who make art their vocation. As a member of the jury for this process, I realised something painful: many women have grown professionally in isolation. This programme arises from the conviction that we do not have to move forward alone. Today the invitation is to weave networks, not only out of solidarity, but because sisterhood is also a form of leadership. Women do not ask permission to lead in the performing arts — we are already doing it. This mentorship network is a concrete commitment to occupying and transforming those spaces,” explains Trinidad Zaldívar.

Through these initiatives, the OLA Women’s Forum continues to consolidate its programme of activities aimed at strengthening support for and encouraging the participation of women in the performing arts, while also providing tools to train women leaders within the sector.