Program Overview
Thank you for your interest in applying for the VV Visionaries program, a partnership between Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund, the charitable fund of Estée Lauder, to support the next generation of emerging leaders who are redefining leadership in their everyday lives. Together with the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund, we aim to champion women leaders across diverse sectors, industries, and experiences who want to create positive social impact in their communities and beyond.
When women advance, the world succeeds. Whether you are an entrepreneur, activist, non-profit leader, or someone with a bold vision for change, you can have a profound impact. We need leaders across every industry and every community who use their power, influence, and passion to make positive change. And we know that women’s leadership will accelerate progress in our communities, offices, and boardrooms.
About Vital Voices Global Partnership
We are facing the world’s toughest challenges of all time – climate crisis, systemic and widespread racial injustices, violence against women, growing economic divides and inequity, and much more. The world needs women to help solve the problems that are affecting people in their own communities and all around the globe.
For over 25 years, Vital Voices Global Partnership has been investing in women leaders solving these challenges. We have built a network of 47,000 changemakers across 192 countries daring to reimagine a more equitable world for all.
At Vital Voices we are “venture catalysts”, identifying women leaders with a bold vision for change and partnering with them to make their vision a reality. We scale and accelerate their impact through long-term investments to expand their skills, connections, capacity, and visibility. We know that women lead differently, and we work to celebrate and share what makes their leadership transformational: inclusion, equity, and a commitment to breaking down barriers.
Benefits:
Through participating in the VV Visionaries program, participants will:
- Complete the Vital Voices Leadership Journey, a 7-week virtual course focused on developing the soft skills required for leadership
- Learn lessons in leadership from Estée Lauder executives
- Receive a certificate of completion upon completing the program
- Have an opportunity to apply for an annual in-person Summit
- Join the Vital Voices global network of more than 47,000 women leaders from around the world
Eligibility:
- Is at least 18 years old at the time of application and identifies as a woman
- Has an established social impact organization, business, initiative, OR
- Is a key decision-maker of their social impact organization, business, initiative, OR
- Has a clear vision for an organization, business, or initiative with an explicit social purpose
- Is proficient in English
Program Commitment
- Fully participate in the 7-week program, which includes 2-4 hours per week of live virtual sessions and weekly assignments. Participants should have no more than 2 absences to remain in good standing.
- Sessions are typically held on weekdays in the morning (Eastern Time).
- Submit regular updates to Vital Voices throughout the program and remain in contact with Vital Voices after the program to share success stories, conduct follow-up surveys about your progress, pursue further opportunities for awards or visibility, etc.
- Complete surveys up to one year after the end of the program.
Technical Requirements and Accessibility:
The VV Visionaries program will be virtual. You will need access to a computer with a camera or a phone and a reliable internet or network connection to fully participate in the program.
Program Dates
Cohort 9: May 29 - July 3
Cohort 10: July 24 - September 4
Cohort 11: October 9 - November 20
Instructions:
Applications must be written in English and completed and submitted by March 11th at 11 am ET. It should take around 30 minutes to complete.
As soon as you start your application, you must click the “Save and Continue Later” box at the top right corner of the page and enter your email address. You will receive an email with a personal link that you can use to return to your application at any time. If you cannot locate an automated email from noreply@alchemer.com, please check your junk or spam folders. However, we recommend writing your responses to the short-answer questions in a separate document and pasting them into the application once you are ready to submit. This will prevent any loss of content as the system does not always successfully save unsubmitted applications.
The application must be completed by the person applying for the program and must be completed in English. If selected, please note that your invitation is NON-TRANSFERABLE and may not be transferred to another owner or employee of the business. ONLY the selected applicant is eligible to participate in the program.
What happens after I apply?
Finalists will be notified 3-4 weeks before the start of each cohort. Please refer to the cohort dates above.
If you have any questions or challenges with the application, please email Mayra Tenorio at mayrat@vitalvoices.org with the subject line: 2025 Visionaries Program Application.