Consulting firms talk about gender diversity in leadership. Few build structured programmes to get there.
Aurora is Mantu's answer to that gap. Launched in 2025 as part of Accelerate 2030, the group's five-year growth strategy, it is a 9-month leadership accelerator for high-potential women across Mantu's brands. The goal is specific: build a solid pipeline of women into C-suite and executive roles, not through goodwill, but through a structured programme with measurable outcomes.
Mantu is an independent consulting and technology company, present in 60+ countries with 12,000 people across 11 brands, including Amaris Consulting, LittleBig Connection, and Eleven VMS. The group reached €1 billion in revenue in 2025. Aurora is part of how it intends to make that growth genuinely inclusive.
Why Aurora was created
Women represent 33.3% of top and middle management positions at Mantu today and our target is 34.3% by 2029. That gap looks narrow. Closing it, and holding that progress past 2029, requires a pipeline. And pipelines require investment. Mantu has been a signatory of the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles since 2021. DEI targets are tied to variable remuneration for leadership across the group. Commitments set the direction. Aurora is what makes them operational.
How the Aurora programme works
Aurora runs over 9 months and is built around three components, designed to work together rather than separately.
The first is advanced leadership training at a senior level, with strategic capability needed to lead across functions, operate in high-ambiguity contexts, and manage people across geographies and business models. It is built for women who already have strong track records.
The second is strategic mentorship from senior leaders inside Mantu. Participants work with mentors who know the group from the inside: its culture, how decisions get made, where the real levers are. The conversations are grounded in operational reality.
The third is measurable career development, tracked throughout the nine months. Aurora is designed as an investment in a participant's next role. Outcomes are defined, reviewed, and accountable.
Beyond those three components, the programme creates something harder to structure formally: a real international peer network. Participants from different brands, countries, and business models share challenges, co-develop solutions, and build relationships that stay active long after the programme closes, through masterclasses, co-development workshops, and structured peer support.
Who joins Aurora
The selection process looks for women at senior and mid-senior level with strong results, clear leadership potential, and the ambition to take on a wider scope.
The first promotion brought together 12 participants from 8 countries, representing Amaris Consulting, Valuement, LittleBig Connection, and Eleven VMS. Their paths into the programme are as different as their roles. For example:
For Thais, Senior Manager at Amaris Consulting in São Paulo, started her career in a genetics research laboratory before moving into consulting. Today she leads business development across retail and financial services with a team composed entirely of men.
That reinforces my desire to build more diverse leadership teams. Aurora is an opportunity to develop while contributing to a more balanced and inclusive environment. I want to actively support other women into leadership positions.
Celina, Partnerships and Sales Director for Europe and North America at Eleven VMS in Geneva, spent three years building an international ecosystem from scratch, shifting the company from a standalone platform to a multi-partner collaborative model across 50+ countries.
I have learned that influence comes from consistency and reliability more than authority. Aurora is an opportunity to refine that posture and step into it even more confidently.
Thai Ly, Department Manager at Amaris Consulting in Ho Chi Minh City, mention:
I want to learn how senior women balance career ambitions with family responsibilities. That is something very few people speak about honestly. Aurora is a pathway to not just grow as a manager, but to evolve into a leader who can inspire others.
What the programme builds over time
In organisations structured around multiple brands, a common pattern emerges: leaders develop deep expertise within their brand while staying disconnected from the wider group. Aurora breaks that pattern from the first session.
Participants work alongside people from different business models, different markets, and different operating cultures. The programme develops individual leadership capability. It also builds something the group needs more broadly: collective intelligence that crosses brand boundaries.
After the nine months, the first promotion does not disappear. The alumni network stays active through ongoing masterclasses, co-development sessions, and peer connection. When a woman joins Mantu early in her career and looks at who holds senior positions in her brand or geography, the Aurora community is designed to be visible, reachable, and real.
If that something that appeals to you, discover our open opportunities at Mantu and join us now
Q&A
What is the Aurora programme?
Aurora is a 9-month leadership accelerator created by Mantu, the global consulting and technology company. It brings together high-potential women from across Mantu's brands to build strategic leadership capabilities, connect with senior mentors, and accelerate their path to executive roles. It is part of Mantu's Accelerate 2030 strategy and its broader DEI commitments.
Who is Aurora designed for?
Aurora targets women at senior and mid-senior level within Mantu who have strong performance records and are ready to expand their leadership scope. The programme is selective. It is designed for people ready to accelerate, not for those still building the fundamentals of their role.
What does Aurora include?
The programme combines three components: advanced leadership training built for senior-level scope, strategic mentorship with experienced Mantu leaders, and a tracked career development plan. Beyond the formal content, participants gain access to an international peer network across brands and geographies, which continues through masterclasses and co-development workshops after the programme ends.
What makes Aurora different from standard mentoring?
Standard mentoring is voluntary, informal, and rarely connected to measurable career outcomes. Aurora is structured: the timeline is defined, the content is built for senior leadership, the mentors are selected, and progress is tracked. It is a career development programme with measurable outcomes, not a support network.
Is Aurora open to external candidates or only current Mantu peolpes?
Aurora is currently open to women already working within the Mantu group. For candidates considering Mantu as an employer, Aurora is one signal of how the group invests in the career progression of women in leadership.
How can I apply for Aurora?
Current Mantu peoples should speak with their HR partner or line manager. Applications for the second cohort are open. Selection is based on leadership potential, current performance, and readiness to stretch.
Is Aurora connected to other Mantu DEI initiatives?
Yes. Aurora sits alongside other DEI initiatives at Mantu, including the Coding Queendom programme for women entering technology careers, the Mantu Bootcamp for skills-based hiring, and the group's AGEFIPH agreement on disability inclusion. Together, these initiatives form part of Mantu's formal DEI Charter, launched in 2025.
