Minerva

About Minerva

Minerva is a development programme for women working towards or entering senior leadership positions in the workplace.  With women still being underrepresented in a range of business and technology fields, this programme is designed to support women to lead in these spaces with confidence, integrity and pride. 

The programme was created by Anne Cooper, a former Chief Nurse at NHS Digital and Ethical Healthcare’s Clinical Director and Chair, out of a desire to support women in the health tech sector. Throughout Anne’s successful career, she saw women not fulfilling their potential due to a lack of confidence, not knowing their strengths and hitting glass ceilings. Minerva aims to empower women to overcome those obstacles, help them understand their unique abilities and learn how they can use those abilities to improve their leadership skills to become the leaders of tomorrow.  

What will you gain?

  • A self-reflective understanding and acceptance of your unique leadership style and strengths.
  • The critical skills and insight into how you can develop as a leader now, and in the future.
  • Personalised leadership coaching sessions.
  • Eight modules delivered face-to-face and online by experts in their fields using a variety of learning experiences.
  • The opportunity to work with other women leaders in groups and join a vibrant and supportive network.

Who is it for?

Minerva welcomes women in leadership from across all industries, including business, academia, health, care, and the voluntary and faith sectors.  

Minerva students come from a wide range of professional disciplines; from programme managers to practitioners and clinicians, finance managers to communications experts. In fact, the role isn’t relevant. It’s more important for participants to have the appetite for a focused senior leaders’ development programme and a positive attitude to learning.  

Each module features a range of high-quality materials, and you will have the opportunity to discuss the programme content through online facilitated sessions in the evenings. To maintain connection across the group – an important dimension of the programme – we will be using a social media platform to enable you to work and communicate. 

What does it cost?

The cost of the programme is £3,500 plus VAT. This includes 4 sessions of personal coaching and access to the 8 modules.

Fees can be paid by your organisation/company – with self-funding also an option.  

Please view the amount as a maximum cost. We are actively seeking sponsorship and bursaries to support costs, which may help to reduce this amount.

Enquire now

How it works

Minerva is based on the simple idea that you are best placed to identify your strengths and weaknesses and decide what you want to work on.

The programme expects you to act as a partner in your learning journey, using your experiences, making sense of them, being self-directed and committed to continuous learning. Working with the programme team and external partners, you will explore your strengths and identify your learning needs. The programme provides challenge, inspiration and support that has a real positive impact on you. We believe that to develop as a leader is to develop as a human!

Time to learn and reflect

This programme is designed to create a space for you to reflect on who you are, to discover your strengths, to think about who you want to be, and to identify your own opportunities for growth. Minerva provides a great learning environment, with a balance of support and challenge, to help you develop your personal learning agenda and design and run learning experiments that will help you grow as an authentic leader.

Coaching

We believe in the power of coaching to accelerate your personal journey and a core element of the programme is individual coaching sessions. We have extensive experience of coaching leaders and helping them to make the most of their development opportunities.

Topical content

The modules cover a range of topical issues that affect leaders of today and will prepare you for your leadership journey. These range from women and power, to systems thinking and address issues such as how to successfully lead change.

Meet our delivery team
  • Module one – Knowing yourself (strengths profile feedback)
  • Module two – Understanding and leading change
  • Module three – Presence and impact as a leader
  • Module four – Women and power
  • Module five – Resilience and well-being
  • Module six – Strategic leadership
  • Module seven – Leading in systems
  • Module eight – Masterclass (meet women leaders) and future planning

Application process

The 2024-25 Minerva cohort has been selected.

We will share updates when applications open for the next cohort.

 

Please email minerva@ethicalhealthcare.org.uk for more information.

Download the prospectus

Complete the form below to download the Minerva prospectus.

    By submitting your details, you agree to receiving occasional marketing communication from Ethical Healthcare Consulting via email.

    Download prospectus
    Jocelyn Palmer
    Minerva has a rich and varied curriculum. I particularly enjoyed the sessions on understanding strengths, power and improving presence and impact. Coaching was challenging and interesting and helped me to re-frame some of my thinking in a positive way. Minerva is very much a group experience, and I met some wonderful women who were part of the course! Jocelyn Palmer | OneLondon Programme Director
    Dr Paul Jones
    I highly recommend the Minerva Women's Leadership Programme. It offers valuable self-reflection, critical leadership skills, and personalised coaching.  A number of my team attended the programme and their development and growth make me confident in endorsing Minerva for any woman looking to enhance her leadership abilities in the healthcare industry. Dr Paul Jones | Chief Digital Information Officer, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS
    Sarbjit K Duggal
    The Minerva Programme was excellent! I met so many inspiring ladies who all had a story to tell, they clearly showed their desire and hunger to make a positive change. The course highlighted the power of networking, there were so many tools and techniques that I will be able to apply in my role, as I start my journey in leadership. Sarbjit K Duggal | DIT Business Support Manager, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
    Rachel
    The Minerva programme has been totally transformational for me providing a safe space to understand my strengths and have the confidence to use them to make a difference in the workplace. Rachel Habergham | Programme Director | NHS Digital
    I really enjoyed completing the Minerva Programme last year, I met some wonderful women in the process and learnt a lot about myself. Minerva was particularly appealing to me due to the way the programme was structured and delivered – enabling me to better balance my personal life being a parent to a young child. I have taken away many exercises and examples which I continue to use, and the coaching enabled me to process and overcome some difficult situations, reframing my perspective on how I needed approach things. I don’t always get it perfect (who does!) but these strategies and techniques have helped me in my new role, which I secured following completion of the Minerva programme. Aasha Cowey | Strategic Transformation Lead | Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
    I found the Minerva programme inspiring and joyful. I loved the initial focus on personal strengths, it was so positive and really set the tone for the rest of the sessions. I have become more confident and grounded since I completed the programme and would encourage other woman in digital health to apply. It's an amazing opportunity to be able to spend time with people that will absolutely help you to flourish Nik Coventry, CNIO, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust