5 modules
2 hours
$1,500
16
Sep - Oct
About the program
You were never the problem.
For too long, leadership development has asked Women of Colour (WoC) to leave part of themselves at the door. The WoC Masterclasses begin from the opposite place: that you lead best when you lead whole.
Built by Women of Colour, for Women of Colour, this is a five-module series our community has long been seeking. Across five live sessions we move through one arc together, Restore, Reclaim, Reimagine. It starts with your story, names what it has cost you to show up, and carries you across a threshold with others who understand the path. You reclaim your identity and your voice, and step into the question that matters most: what are you going to build?
The Arc: Restore · Reclaim · Reimagine
Thursday 3 September 2026
12:00–2:00pm AEST
Module 1 · Purposeful Storytelling
Before anything else, we begin where every WoCA journey begins: with who you are, on your own terms. You surface the story you have been carrying, and lay the foundation everything that follows is built on.
Thursday 17 September 2026
12:00–2:00pm AEST
Module 2 · Addressing Burnout and Boundaries
We turn honestly to what it has taken to keep showing up, the over-functioning, the code-switching, the holding it all together, and begin to draw the boundaries that let you come back to yourself.
Thursday 24 September 2026
12:00–2:00pm AEST
Module 3 · Peer Circle
A held space where the cohort turns toward one another. You reflect on how far you have come, gather strength from women who understand the path, and step across the threshold as one.
Thursday 15 October 2026
12:00–2:00pm AEST
Module 4 · Leading with Cultural Confidence
You walk back in whole. Here you reclaim your identity and your voice, and learn to lead from your culture and lived experience as a source of power, not something to manage or minimise.
Thursday 29 October 2026
12:00–2:00pm AEST ·
Module 5 · Self-Advocacy and Sponsorship
The journey turns outward. You advocate for yourself, build the sponsorship that opens doors, and answer the biggest question of all: what are you going to build? You leave with your certificate, and your next chapter already in motion.
What you will walk away with
By the end of the series, you will:
Tell your professional story with clarity and purpose.
Set boundaries that protect your energy and sustain you at work.
Lead from your culture and lived experience as a source of strength.
Advocate for yourself in the moments that matter, and build the sponsorship that opens doors.
Meet your facilitator
Dr Varina Michaels
Dr Michaels is the Head of Programs and Impact at WoCA. She leads the WoC Masterclasses using WoCA’s Purposeful Storytelling methodology, the approach at the heart of the Restore, Reclaim, Reimagine journey you’ll move through across the five modules. Dr Michaels is also CEO and Founder of Paisley Group, a global leader in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), culture, leadership and engagement- backed by science and all through an intersectional lens. She brings over 15 years of experience across intersectional diversity, equity and inclusion, culture, leadership and community engagement. With a PhD in Intersectional Identities, Dr Michaels is an inclusive leader, international educator, published academic and Director of the Women of Colour Safety and Work Research Institute (WoCSAW).
Why Women of Colour Australia (WoCA)
Women of Colour Australia (WoCA) has spent years building the community this program grows from. Since 2020, we have worked alongside Women of Colour, including First Nations women, across the country, listening to what they need to lead and thrive. The WoC Masterclasses were built from the ground up by Women of Colour, for Women of Colour, on the methodology and community we have developed over those years. You are in experienced, trusted hands.
The Investment: $1,500 (ex GST)
We have worked hard to keep this within reach, because we want the women who need this room to be in it. Your place in the series includes:
- Five live, facilitated modules with Dr Varina Michaels, online via Microsoft Teams
- A cohort you move through the whole series with, not a room of strangers
- A participant workbook and reflection guides for the work between sessions
- Session recordings and resources, so you never lose your place if life gets busy
- A certificate on completion, and a network that stays with you well beyond the final module
This is not a course you complete alone. You give something to this circle, and you carry something from it.
Funding your place
Employers often fund professional development like this. Check whether your organisation has an L&D or PD budget, this is straightforward for most, and with a new financial year underway, now is a natural time to ask. We can invoice your employer directly, and if it helps you make the case, we can send you a one-page summary to share with your manager. Just let us know when you enrol.
For employers
Women of Colour are among the most engaged people in any workforce. The talent, the commitment and the skill are already there. What is too often missing is a workplace built to keep them. In our Workplace Survey, nearly half of Women of Colour told us they do not expect to still be with their employer in a year, and the reasons are rarely the work itself. They are asked to lead in environments that were not made for them, and they leave.
The WoC Masterclasses are the response, and they are what Women of Colour are asking for: most say they want a leadership program built for them. Across five modules, your team member grows as a leader as her whole self, alongside others who understand the path, and builds the voice, the boundaries, the cultural confidence and the self-advocacy to lead, and to stay.
This is not a program brought in from outside. WoCA conducted the national research these figures come from, and has delivered leadership programs for Women of Colour to government and to organisations across the country. The Masterclasses are built by Women of Colour, for Women of Colour, on that evidence. When you sponsor a place, you are backing an organisation that understands the problem because it measured it.
At $1,500 (ex GST) for the full series, it sits comfortably within most professional development budgets, and we can invoice your organisation directly. Sponsoring a place, or several, is a visible, practical commitment to the women you most want to keep.
To sponsor seats for your team, email [email protected].
44.9%
63.6%
Figures from Women of Colour in the Workplace Report 2024, WoCA’s study of 1,004 Women of Colour, including First Nations women.
Scholarship places
Two fully funded scholarship places are reserved in every series of the WoC Masterclasses. They are WoCA’s commitment to access and equity, built into the program model.
1. Scholarship place one: Social Impact, Community or NFP Sector
For a Woman of Colour working in the social impact, community or NFP sector. You are doing important work, often in under-resourced conditions. We want you in the room.
2. Scholarship place two: First Nations women
Reserved for a First Nations woman – Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander – in recognition of the specific leadership journeys navigated by First Nations women in Australian workplaces. We want you in the room.
Two scholarship places are a permanent feature of the WoC Masterclasses – not contingent on grant funding. From Series 2, we intend to fund both places from program surplus. The scholarship places for Series 1 are made possible through WoCImpact1000, WoCA’s community-powered philanthropy.
Frequently asked questions.
Have a question that isn’t here? Email [email protected].
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