Change the future of young high-potential girls

Talent and ambition are universal. Career opportunity is not. Accelerate exists to close that gap. Providing three years of mentoring, financial support, and career development to young Australians who have the potential to go far, but not yet the pathways to get there. The ACT is a small but growing part of the national 2026 cohort. Three phenomenal young women, each matched with an exceptional female mentor who has committed three years of their professional expertise and personal investment to walk alongside them.

This reporting period marks a significant milestone: the welcome of three new scholars. Kartja, Kathleen, and Leilani, who joined in November 2025 and have begun the first chapter of what will be a three-year journey. Each was matched with a corporate mentor from ABCN's member network and onboarded to the financial platform that gives them access to their scholarship funds. By March 2026, all three had completed their first school-based mentor meetings, a simple marker that carries real weight, because that first meeting is where the relationship begins to become real.

One scholar's story from this period is worth sharing. Leilani is a proud First Nations young woman from Queanbeyan High School whose early experience in the program was not without difficulty, her first two scheduled meetings with her initial mentor did not go ahead. The program team responded by rematching her with a First Nations mentor: a pairing that isn't always straightforward to arrange, but one they pursued deliberately. When Leilani met her new mentor, the connection was immediate. She was open, curious, and comfortable in a way that hadn't been possible before. What followed has been remarkable: her mentor recently took a twelve-month career break to care for her young children, yet asked to remain Leilani's mentor throughout, connecting with her on days the children are in childcare. "I am still very much committed to the program," she told the team. It is a reminder of what genuine commitment to a young person looks like, and of how much a single matched relationship can matter.

Savannah, now in her second year of Accelerate, has settled into a strong new mentoring pairing with Michelle from KPMG and is navigating Year 12 with support alongside her. Coming up in May, Year 1 scholars will attend their first Leadership Summit, typically the moment when mentoring relationships deepen most noticeably. We're looking forward to sharing what comes next.