Inspirational women focus group

On November the 15th, 2022, a focus group was held as part of the Erasmus+ project Off The Beaten Track, according to Materahub has selected four female professionals in order to evaluate the Mentoring Circle methodology as one of the outputs of the European project.

The experts involved, defined by the project as Changemakers, come from different professional and personal backgrounds, belonging to the world of tourism and the cultural and creative industries.

The Changemakers were chosen due to their competences and inspirational stories: Anna Maria Gallo lives in Malta but her roots are in Basilicata, she is an architect specialized in sustainability; Roberta Magherini is an expert consultant in the field of EU-funded projects, mainly belonging to the cultural and tourism sectors; Loredana Melodia is a musician all-around, she is a jazz singer and composer, and she organizes events while working as a primary school teacher; and, last but not least, Chiara Rosiglioni is a travel specialist who defines herself a “world citizen”.

All these competences have been acquired during their experiences and it complement certain abilities such as problem-solving, leadership, self-management and team working, which are, among others, the soft skills to be developed as one of the objectives of the project.

The Changemakers will be a source of inspiration and empowerment for the target women of the project, namely those over 30 years of age who are at risk of losing their jobs or have already lost it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the focus group, the objectives of the Mentoring Circles were presented and it includes: generating awareness, helping to nurture critical and positive thinking, strengthening professional skills, and improving the employability of women in the tourism, creative and cultural fields.

Together with the professionals, the methodology of the Mentoring Circles was discussed, delving into aspects such as the duration, the structure of the phases, the number of sessions to be held, the number of the participating members, the territoriality of the sessions (national and/or European), and the consistency of the welcoming kit for beneficiaries.

The focus group was successful and, together with the other national focus groups, will make the Mentoring Circles, organized from February onwards, even more effective.

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