L-R: Egypt Gwenneth-Myer; Rose Terrey; Vanisha Babani; Annie Schubert and Stacey Bell.
Earlier in the year WLA ACT caught up with the current committee members of the Women Lawyers Mentor Program (WLMP) at University of Canberra (UC) to chat about the committee, what makes them tick and what’s made the program so successful.
WLMP connects later-year female law students with legal practitioners. Egypt Gwyneth-Myer, Rose Terrey, Vanisha Babani, Annie Schubert and Stacey Bell are heading up the 2020 committee in its largest iteration yet.
A little bit about the committee:
Stacey: I’m a Canberra girl, born but not raised. I spent my childhood in Switzerland. I’ve spent the last four years working in personal injury and currently work for a full service Family and Estates law firm.
Rose: I’m in my final year of a Bachelor of Laws. I moved to Canberra from a property in Bega three years ago. I’ve worked as a disability support worker for the last three years and I am passionate about giving people with disability and women a voice.
Vanisha: I was born and brought up in Hong Kong and moved to Canberra to study law in 2017. I am currently in my final year and have had a variety of experience in corporate law, personal injury and family law as well as in the District Court of Hong Kong. I hope to become a solicitor in Hong Kong and Australia once I get my practicing certificate.
Egypt: I was born in Canberra, I am in my final semester of a Bachelor of Laws and within the next five years I would like to become an Ombudsman.
Annie: I’ve lived in Canberra since I was in primary school, but before studying law I lived in Sydney and worked as a sub-editor and personal trainer. I have been working in personal injury law since 2016, started a Bachelor of Laws in 2017 and will hopefully be admitted by the end of 2020!
What attracted you to the committee?
Annie: I applied as a mentee on a whim and was paired with one of the program’s founders, Katie Toleafoa. When Laura (previous committee member) and Egypt approached me to join the committee, I couldn’t say no.
Rose: I was also matched with Katie, who encouraged me to join the committee – and I haven’t looked back.
Vanisha: After being a mentee last semester, I saw the cooperation and hard work of the committee. I wanted to help provide mentees the same invaluable experience I gained throughout the program so I applied.
Stacey: I had such a positive experience with my mentor last semester, and she encouraged me to join the committee.
Egypt: I really enjoyed participating in the program. Gender equality is something I am passionate about and I believe the program is wonderful so when I heard the committee was looking for members I applied immediately!
Dispel some myths about the program:
Vanisha: ‘I don’t know if I’ll get anything out of it’ – if you make the most of your time with your mentors and maintain that connection after the program ends, you’ll always have a connection to seek guidance from!
Stacey: Mentees – you get the opportunity to speak with those in the industry, who have signed up to help you; mentors – it’s a really great way to lock in some future favours!
Egypt: ‘The program is unfair to male law students’. The aim of the program is to address the very real problem of underrepresentation and pay disparity of women in the legal progression!
How are mentors and mentees paired?
Egypt: It involves going through the application forms, discussing as a committee whether mentor and mentee have similar interests in particular areas of law or whether the mentor works in an area of interest to the mentee, and whether the mentor could guide the mentee.
Rose: We use a spreadsheet and we match mentors and mentees together based on their areas of interest. We do this over some snacks, so it’s always an enjoyable time!
What are some of the program’s success stories?
Annie: Last semester we had a record number of mentees and mentors, which I think speaks volumes about the committee and the program.
Egypt: A lot of our student mentees have received job offers, and we have received a great deal of positive feedback!
Stacey: At this stage I can only share my own. My mentor opened my horizons, reviewed my resume and when a position came up in family and estates law, she encouraged me to apply and thanks to her guidance I got the job!