Sponsoring

Mentoring and sponsorship are essential activities in the professional development of both men and women. These forms of relationships often form between individuals who have common interests, or when the junior member reminds the more senior member of themselves. In paramedicine, the number of men in leadership positions usually means that other men are the ones who end up mentored and sponsored. It can be the case that junior women find it difficult to find similar levels of personal and career support since there are fewer women in leadership positions. 

I proudly sponsor four women in paramedicine: Paige Mason and Chelsea Lanos, both paramedics in Ontario, Jennifer Bolster, a paramedic in Tasmania, and Tyne Lunn, a paramedic in BC.

Paige is a Tactical Paramedic, who is finishing a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary studies, with a focus on organisational culture, change, and leadership.

Chelsea is an Advanced Care and Community Paramedic. She holds a Master of Science in Critical Care with a focus on end-of-life care and organ donation.

Jennifer is an Advanced Care Paramedic. She holds a Bachelor of Paramedicine (Hons.) with a focus on the paramedic role in substance use, and is undertaking a PhD.

Tyne is an Advanced Care and Community Paramedic, who is interested in public health, palliative care, equity and justice, and a variety of other practice issues. She is completing an Honours Degree in Paramedicine with a focus on social needs.





I also mentor several other women and men in their career development and success.

I personally believe in an equal playing field for men and women where success and advancement are truly based on merit rather than politics. Until that occurs however, we need to accept that women have less opportunity to advance than men – they are over-mentored, and under-sponsored. We’ve published and presented on this over the past number of years:

  • Batt, A.M. Go Sponsor Her: supporting the next generation of women leaders in paramedicine. EMS Leadership Summit 2020, October 15-19, 2020.
  • Mason, P., Lanos, C., Batt, A.M. Female leadership in paramedicine: the case for sponsorship (panel discussion). Paramedicine Across Canada conference 2019, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, September 20, 2019.
  • Lanos, C., Mason, P., Batt, A.M. GoSponsor…Us. Going beyond mentoring for women in paramedicine. Canadian Paramedicine. 2019; 42(3): 34-36. Full-text
  • Mason, P., Slack, M., Batt, A.M. Female leadership in paramedicine. Emergency Medical Services Show, London, UK, June 25, 2019.
  • Mason, P., Delport, S., Batt, A.M. Let’s make this our “thing”: levelling the gender field for a brighter future in paramedicine. Canadian Paramedicine. 2018; 41(1). Full-text
  • Batt, A.M., Mason P. Increasing female leadership in paramedicine. Indiana EMS Association Conference, West Lafayette, IN, USA, November 30, 2018.
  • Mason, P., Slack, M., Batt, A.M. Female leadership in paramedicine: results from the FLIP study. Irish College of Paramedics Scientific Symposium, Cork, Ireland, September 15, 2018.
  • Mason, P., Slack, M., Batt, A.M. Female leadership in paramedicine. Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs Spring Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada, May 9, 2018.

What’s the difference?

Sponsoring resources

If you’re interested in sponsoring, I can highly recommend the following publications and resources to help you figure out where to start and how to create a successful sponsoring relationship.