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August 2026
Elevating ambitious women at Foresight
Elevate participant Laura Grenier discusses how the programme has helped her in her career journey.
Foresight’s Elevate women in leadership programme helps women build the insight, mindset, skills and confidence to thrive as leaders. It responds to a persistent cross-sector challenge: the underrepresentation of women in senior roles. Using neuroscience-informed leadership development techniques, the programme combines internal and external coaching to create a practical and impactful learning experience.
Elevate is now open to external candidates who can benefit alongside Foresight’s future female leaders, with 50% of internal participants promoted within 12 months of completing the programme. Nearly 50 women have taken part to date across seven cohorts and the programme was recently Highly Commended in the Best DE&I Initiative category at the Business Culture Awards.
Laura Grenier, Director and Head of Finance in Foresight Group’s Corporate Finance team, completed Elevate in 2026. Below, she shares her reflections on the programme.
What made you want to take part in Elevate?
When I was offered the opportunity to participate in the programme, it was actually perfect timing as I found myself at a crossroads in my career. I had recently joined Foresight in a new role and felt that this was an opportunity to challenge myself whilst leveraging the skills and experience I had built up in my career to date.
Could you talk me through some of the main areas covered in the programme?
The Elevate programme extends across a wide variety of skillsets and is designed to be flexible in supporting all of its participants. Some of the key areas include:
· Personal attributes and traits, which for me translated as recognising the importance of my own personality and values on my career
· The importance of communication
· Leadership styles and how to adapt and evolve those to specific circumstances, teams and career stages
· Strategies for intentional and structured career planning
We participated in a variety of practical activities and group work, as well as inward-looking exercises to surface personal insights – I was genuinely surprised by some of the feedback and results from the practical exercises we completed! I have found these practical tools particularly useful, to give me confidence in communication, organisational and leadership skills, building on the constructive feedback from our live classroom work.
Working through the Elevate programme I have realised that intentionality in connections and showcasing personal achievements and differentiating skillsets is key to drive progress and support career development.
What would you say you have gained most from taking part?
I have many different takeaways which have impacted me in multiple ways. I used to think that if you worked hard and were committed this would automatically be recognised. Working through the Elevate programme I have realised that intentionality in connections and showcasing personal achievements and differentiating skillsets is key to drive progress and support career development. Taking a step back was extremely valuable and often provided surprising insights. For example, consideration of how much our different values impact on who we are, how we lead, interact and communicate with others. My new buzzword is intentionality! To bring to conversations, meetings, planning, communications and drive my career agenda in the direction I would like it to take.
What would you say to anyone who is considering signing up to Elevate?
This is a highly participative programme – you will get out what you put in. However, the investment of your time and attention is more than outweighed by the opportunity to progress your career intentionally, not just upwards but also by widening your skillsets. The opportunity to take time away from the day-to-day schedule and step back to consider the bigger picture is invaluable and empowers career planning for the longer term.
If you would like to learn more about Elevate, please see here.