/>

Families of Veterans Guild

Rise Together Initiative

Building career confidence for defence and veteran partners

The Rise Together Initiative is a program  supporting female partners and widows of current or former ADF members to build career confidence and leadership skills through the Women in Leadership Development. 

It all started with one widow wanting to support other women whose loved one has or did serve in the ADF, to mitigate the impacts of that service on their careers. This widow has privately funded 4 defence and veteran spouses to complete the program and in 2025 had funded another two, together with government funding which means 12 spouses had been able to access the program in 2025. Although applications for 2025 have ceased, future opportunities and initiatives like this one are to be expected in the future.

 Subscribe to our Wellbeing Newsletter or our Wellbeing Facebook Group to be the first one to hear about future initiatives.

Why defence & veteran partners need the Rise Together Initiative

The aim of the Rise Together Initiative is to build the career confidence of defence and veteran partners. Directly addressing the negative impacts of defence service on their careers.

Families of veterans make unique sacrifices when supporting their loved one, both during and after ADF service. Families of veterans balance the many demands of supporting family, relocations and adjustments, deployments and other absence from home, transition out of service and caring roles due to illness or injury.

Career satisfaction is an important element of wellbeing. We acknowledge that veteran families may face barriers in developing and maintaining their career aspirations due to the unique nature of defence life, increasing their risk of unemployment and underemployment. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage partners of former or current serving ADF members to focus on self-care and expand their careers by engaging in a Women in Leadership Development (WILD) program with like-minded peers, and is only accessible through the accepting application dates. Applications are closed for 2025.

Women in Leadership Development (WILD) Program description

The program was for women from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, seeking a development experience to help upskill and prepare for future roles.

You may feel like an emerging leader, or you may feel like a ‘re-emerging’ leader, looking for a reset or ready for a sprint in your development. This may be your first leadership development program, or perhaps it has been a while since your last opportunity to pause and focus on your development and you feel the time is right.

WILD provided an opportunity to explore what it takes for women to exercise leadership and take up authority in leadership roles in Australia. This program was not about ‘fixing’ women but looking at leadership through the lens of gender. We look at leadership work as identity work and in this context explore how gender bias and organisational and societal barriers impact women taking up leadership roles.

WILD aimed to support women to focus on their own aspirations, and development goals and to consider the impact they would like to have in their workplaces and communities. 

What the Rise Together Initiative & the Women in Leadership Development program provided

The WILD program for 2025 was facilitated by psychologists Jamie and Naomi from People Measures. The program has commenced in May 2025 and applications have officially closed. It runs for four months online and includes a week workshop in Sydney NSW.

Including an orientation, pre-work, a week long immersive in person workshop in Sydney NSW and 2x30min individual coaching sessions, this program was not to be missed. Whilst in Sydney, attendees are having the opportunity to meet with our Social Work and Wellbeing team and hear from the RSL Employment Program and Dress for Success NSW & ACT

WILD explores several critical topics, including:

Rise Together Initiative program application

Women in Leadership Development (WILD) is a program for emerging female leaders who want to enhance their influence and impact. We understand first-hand that the nature of defence service sometimes means that defence and veteran family member careers have taken a back seat to their loved ones. The Rise Together Initiative offered scholarships to twelve veteran partners in 2025. We are no longer offering positions this year. Subscribe to our Wellbeing Newsletter or our Wellbeing Facebook Group to be the first one to hear about future initiatives.

Cost of the Women in Leadership Development (WILD) program

Applications that were successful have had no cost to the attendees for this program.

What is included in the Rise Together Initiative

Information & Instructions

Applications were open to female partners of current and former serving ADF members, including widows. No longer accepting applications. Subscribe to our Wellbeing Newsletter or our Wellbeing Facebook Group to be the first one to hear about future initiatives.

Application

2025 APPLICATIONS CLOSED.

Terms & Conditions

Applicants have been notified regarding the outcome of their application. If you have missed out, please subscribe to our Wellbeing Newsletter or our Wellbeing Facebook Group to be the first one to hear about future initiatives.

For any further information about the Rise Together Initiative or the WILD program and possible opportunities in the future, please contact Kerrie or Lisa at 02 9267 6577 or wellbeing@fov.org.au.

Mary Kingsford, recipient of the 2024 Women in Leadership Development Scholarship.

Thank you Families of Veterans Guild for the opportunity to attend the Women in Leadership Development (WILD) program of 2024. I am continually evolving in both personal and professional development and through this scholarship opportunity my growth will continue to expand throughout the course across to positive contributions in future roles.”

Mary Kingsford

2024 WILD Scholarship Recipient

“For me this program was transformative it helped me see that it was me standing in my own way, it was me who chose my then underemployment and chose to break free of that and step into where I should be at the level I should be, that I was ready for and didn’t realize it at the time”

Renee Wilson
CEO, Families of Veterans Guild
Shopping Cart
  • Your cart is empty.