SIOP Women Leaders in Paediatric Oncology (WLPO) Network

The Women Leaders in Paediatric Oncology (WLPO) Network, an initiative of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), is a global leadership development platform established in 2022 to promote, support, and strengthen female leadership across all disciplines of paediatric oncology. Although the field is predominantly female in workforce composition, women remain significantly underrepresented in top leadership roles. The WLPO Network directly addresses this gap by building structured pathways for mentorship, visibility, skills development, and community-building for women in clinical care, research, nursing, and allied health. 

The initiative operates through a combination of online engagement, in-person leadership programming, and curated knowledge products. A flagship output is the SIOP Almanac of Women Leaders in Paediatric Oncology, an evolving collection of profiles highlighting 42 global women leaders. These narratives showcase diverse career trajectories, personal resilience, and professional impact across regions and disciplines, serving both as recognition and as inspiration for early- and mid-career professionals. The initiative also includes leadership workshops, Congress sessions on women’s leadership, and structured networking and mentoring activities. 

Key Objectives 

The WLPO Network focuses on four strategic objectives: 

• Enhancing leadership skills and confidence through structured mentoring, leadership training, and peer support.  

• Developing accessible leadership resources and tailored skill-building curricula for paediatric oncology contexts.  

• Expanding visibility and recognition of women leaders through storytelling and public dissemination.  

• Building sustainable global networks to enable collaboration, mentorship, and professional mobility.  

  
  

Implementation and Resources 

The initiative is led by SIOP’s Chief Programs Officer with a Steering Group of 8 senior leaders guiding implementation. The WLPO Congress session has become one of the most attended non-scientific sessions, consistently attracting 350–400 participants, demonstrating strong institutional demand for leadership-focused programming. 

Measured Impact and KPIs 

The project demonstrates both quantitative and qualitative impact across leadership engagement, visibility, and behavioral change: 

• Increased nominations of female members for Board-level and leadership positions within SIOP.  

• High attendance and sustained demand for leadership workshops, including waiting lists (up to 50 participants).  

• Strong engagement with Almanac profiles across digital and social platforms.  

• Growing number of women nominated multiple times for inclusion in the Almanac, reflecting sustained visibility and recognition.  

• Observable increase in women applying for leadership roles within SIOP structures.  

• Membership composition reaching 67% women, reinforcing the importance of equitable leadership representation.  

  
  

Key Outcomes 

• Creation of 42 detailed leadership profiles of women across global paediatric oncology.  

• Full-capacity leadership workshops with immediate reported application of skills in negotiation, communication, and career planning.  

• Consistent standing-room-only attendance at Congress leadership sessions, including engagement from male participants who actively disseminate learnings.  

• Demonstrable increase in leadership confidence and aspiration among early- and mid-career professionals. 

Additional Insights and Lessons Learned 

The WLPO Network highlights several transferable lessons for association-led leadership initiatives: 

• Strong governance enables scale: A committed Steering Group of experienced leaders has been critical in sustaining momentum and operational delivery.  

• Content multiplication increases impact: The Almanac serves as a multi-use resource, repurposed for social media campaigns, leadership visibility initiatives, and AI-generated audio content (podcasts), significantly extending reach without proportional resource increases.  

• Visibility drives aspiration: Structured storytelling of real leadership journeys directly contributes to increased confidence and leadership ambition among participants.  

• Demand exceeds supply: High oversubscription rates for workshops and sessions indicate a strong unmet need for leadership development programming in the field.  

  
  

Summary Takeaways 

• The WLPO Network is a structured, global leadership development platform addressing gender imbalance in senior paediatric oncology leadership.  

• It combines mentorship, visibility, and skills development into a coherent, scalable model.  

• Engagement metrics demonstrate high demand and sustained growth in participation and leadership aspiration.  

• The initiative is already influencing measurable behavior change in leadership applications and professional visibility.  

• Content-driven, multi-channel dissemination (Almanac, workshops, congress sessions, digital storytelling) significantly amplifies impact.  

• Strong governance, strategic content reuse, and consistent community engagement are key success factors.  

Overall, the WLPO Network represents a mature, evolving model for gender-responsive leadership development within global medical associations, with clear evidence of both cultural and structural impact.