During the weeks of the programme, 4 group mentoring sessions will be held (4 to 6 participants per mentor) and 1 individual session. These sessions are intended to:

• Be a space for reflection, individually and in groups, on the content covered in the sessions and on the impact of each of the themes on the participants’ personal and professional development
• Support the participants in creating their individual development plan.

Topics to be covered

• History and professional challenges.
• Dreams and career goals: how to clarify and achieve them.
• Opportunities, how to overcome fears and achieve your goals.
• Networking; how to create and develop a structured networking network.
• Individual Development Plan.
• Creating and developing a structured plan for professional growth.
• Commitments and follow-up.

Mentors

Carla Baltazar is responsible for the Operations area, which encompasses the business process outsourcing components and is the Gender Lead for the Inclusion and Diversity initiative at Accenture. In the Operations area, Carla leads a multidisciplinary team that supports the business processes of national and international clients in various industries such as the automotive and telecommunications industries, insurance, utilities and software&platforms.
As Gender Lead, Carla coordinates initiatives at Accenture Portugal with the aim of achieving gender parity and promoting inclusion initiatives.
She has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico. She has attended various management and leadership courses both in-house and more recently at AESE Business School.

Cristina Mesquita is currently general manager of Euromadi Portugal, a trading and services centre that is part of the Euromadi Group, which has been operating in the national market since 2006. Before joining Euromadi, Cristina Mesquita was a manager at Henkel, a German chemicals multinational – namely cosmetics and detergents.
As well as being a mentor and mentee on several occasions throughout her career, she has participated in PWN’s Mentoring programme since 2019 and has coordinated the Executive Mentoring programme since its first edition, which is an integral part of One Step Ahead – the Executive Women’s Leadership Programme organised by AESE in partnership with Executiva.
She graduated in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa and during her professional career has attended various higher education programmes related to management, coaching and leadership at institutions such as IESE Business School, Erickson Coaching International, UCLA Anderson School of Management; Nova SBE and AESE Business School.

Lidia Tarré is Managing Director of Gelpeixe, Member of the Board of CCIP – Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Member of the Board of the Association of Family Businesses, Member of the Steering Committee of Rede Mulher Lider, IAPMEI and Founder of Vittabusiness (real estate and management consultancy).
She has a degree in Management, a post-graduate degree in Management Control and Business Performance, completed GAIN – Management of Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Companies, Building the Future in Family Businesses and PADE – Senior Management Programme at AESE Business School. She has completed Erickson Coaching International – the art of coaching – ICF certification and Igniting Innovation for Impact at the Moller Institute & Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

Maria João Mileu is Head of Transformation at the Ageas Portugal Group. She is a member of the Board of Directors of PWN Lisbon (Professional Women’s Network), where she leads the Youth Programme (focused on young professionals, helping them on their career path) and is a mentor to several female executives.
She was an Associate Partner at Accenture in the Banking and Insurance area, where she spent 15 years. While still working at Accenture, she set up the first operations back office for the entire banking market in Portugal – SIBS Processos – with a small team of consultants, and managed it as Managing Director for 3 years.
This was followed by 10 years as Coordinating Director of the Banco Espírito Santo/Novobanco Group, in charge of the Organisation and Strategic Projects Department. She was CEO and Chairman of the Board for the first 3 years of a technology start-up.

Sara Caetano currently manages Opentext’s business in Portugal, and is also responsible for two projects at European level: managing a team focused on developing the strategy and training of sales areas for the Energy industry vertical, and managing the Women in Tech project, focused on the strategic career development of women in the organisation through training and mentoring.
She graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico and more recently completed the XVII MBA at AESE Business School. In addition to this basic training, she has developed her management and leadership skills at institutions such as INSEAD, IESE Business School, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Porto Business School.

Sílvia Nunes, Senior Director at Michael Page and founder of the Profiler Podcast.

One Step Ahead is aimed at female professionals in middle management or senior management positions who wish to develop and strengthen skills to reach top-level positions.

A executive training program designed for women with more than 5 years of professional experience who wish to advance their careers and develop their human and professional skills.

At One Step Ahead we use the Case Method, as well as Role Playing and Lectures/Webinars to make the learning process active and practical. The participant is confronted with a dynamic, demanding, yet consistent environment that results in a quality learning process, with efficient use of time and focus on discussion.

Case Method – Leading can only be learned…by leading.
That’s why learning at AESE is inspired on the Harvard Business School model. By placing participants in real business conflicts, executives are called upon to assume the role of decision-makers in circumstances similar to their day-to-day lives in organizations. The cases pose challenges that require effective responses in the face of rigorous analysis of limited or even insufficient information, in ambiguous or politically-economically complex contexts. Individual diagnosis and decisions are negotiated with experienced, talented and ambitious colleagues.

Peer-to-peer: Role plays are also used to foster decision-making skills, negotiation and the defense of pre-defined points of view.

Meet the executives who shared their experiences and knowledge with the One Step Ahead participants:

Ana Margarida Ximenes, President of Atrevia and IABC EMENA
Ana Torres, MS Europe Cluster Lead RD in Pfizer
Carmo Palma, Managing Director of Axians Portugal
Cristina Rodrigues, CEO of Capgemini Portugal
Dulce Mota, Vice President of Banco Montepio
Fátima Carioca, Dean of AESE Business School
Isabel Barros, Director of human resources in Sonae MC
Paula Panarra, General Director of Microsoft in Portugal
Pilar Braga, General Director in Amorim Top Series
Sandra Perdigão Neves, Chief Operating Officer and Administrator of SIRESP

Meet the executives who shared their experiences and knowledge with the One Step Ahead participants:

• Ana Margarida Ximenes, President of Atrevia and IABC EMENA
• Ana Torres, MS Europe Cluster Lead RD at Pfizer
• Carmo Palma, Managing Director at Axians Portugal
• Cristina Rodrigues, CEO of Capgemini Portugal
• Dulce Mota, Vice President of Banco Montepio
• Fátima Carioca, Dean of AESE Business School
• Isabel Barros, Director of Sonae MC
• Paula Panarra, Global Business Applications Sales Lead at Microsoft
• Pilar Braga, Managing Director at Amorim Top Series
• Sandra Perdigão Neves, President of SIRESP

Hybrid format, with in person and online sessions.

Address in person sessions:
AESE Business School
Edifício AESE, Calçada de Palma de Baixo, 12, 1600-177 Lisboa

General  | 2.750 €
AESE’s Alumnae  | 2.250 €

The price includes documentation and support material, as well as lunch, coffee breaks, and parking for the closing session

Language: Portuguese.