Pathways Forward Pledge partners continue to grow as the organisation announces its second cohort of partners committed to advancing gender diversity and entrepreneurship in Scotland. This latest group includes Converge, The Open University in Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, SIS Ventures, Social Investment Scotland, South of Scotland Enterprise, and the University of Strathclyde, all of which have pledged to implement actionable steps in line with the recommendations of the Pathways report.
Pathways Forward’s Chair, Ana Stewart, expressed her appreciation for the broad support the initiative has received: “We have been overwhelmed by the level of support for Pathways from across the corporate, public, and not-for-profit sectors. The Pledge partnership is centred on firm commitments to effect change within each organisation. I would like to personally thank all of our Pledge partners to date, and we look forward to welcoming more like-minded organisations.”
The second cohort of Pledge partners joins a growing list of organisations that have already made commitments, including AccelerateHER, CivTech, CodeBase, Deloitte, Eos Advisory, Scottish EDGE, and the Scottish National Investment Bank. These partnerships focus on creating measurable and impactful changes that align with the principles set out in the Pathways report.
The individual pledges complement existing internal policies and span a wide range of initiatives, such as enhancing gender data collection, ensuring gender diversity on selection panels, increasing female participation rates, and integrating childcare into programme designs. These actions are not only aimed at creating a more equitable entrepreneurial environment but are also trackable and shared publicly to maintain accountability.
This announcement comes ahead of the inaugural Female Founders Growth Summit, set to take place on Thursday, 5th September at the Royal Bank of Scotland Conference Centre in Gogarburn, Edinburgh. The event is held in partnership with Female Founders Rise, a UK-wide community and resource for female founders focused on scaling up their businesses.
Ana Stewart explained the significance of the summit: “The Female Founders Growth Summit is designed to bring together scale-up founders with the investment community, focusing on energising this often challenging growth stage of the founder journey.”
The summit is supported by headline sponsors Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, and the Scottish National Investment Bank, with additional backing from British Business Bank, EY, and Eos Advisory. Community partners for the summit include Dechomai and AccelerateHER, and the event will be hosted by Dr. Vanessa Collingridge, a former BBC broadcaster and associate at Freer Consultancy.
Pathways Forward was officially launched in September 2023 following the release of the Scottish Government-commissioned Pathways: A New Approach For Women in Entrepreneurship report. In February, an Advisory Group was appointed to work alongside Ana Stewart, aiming to amplify and progress the recommendations outlined in the report. The Pathways initiative is gaining traction across Scotland, empowering women in entrepreneurship and fostering a more inclusive business ecosystem.
