Rise AV Names 23 Women to 2026 Elevate Leadership Program

Rise AV has announced the 23 women selected for the second year of its Elevate program, a six-week management and leadership development course. The cohort includes professionals from 20 organizations across the UK, Ireland, Germany and France.

Elevate is designed to give women practical skills to lead teams, manage people and make business decisions. The curriculum covers leadership strengths, team motivation, difficult conversations, managing change, commercial decision-making and communication, combining interactive learning with practical application and peer networking. Each delegate is paired with a senior AV industry leader through Rise AV's Jedi coaching model. This year's Jedis are Martine Dodwell-Bennett (Absen), Wayne Mason (Neat), Gary Keene (University of the Arts) and Danielle Myburgh (Pixel Global).

Places cost £550 to £950 depending on company size, which Rise AV says is heavily subsidized by sponsors against an estimated commercial value of £3,000 per delegate. Rise AV thanks its Global Headline Partners, QSC and Neat; Gold Sponsors Diversified, Audiologic, Sennheiser, Kinly and Shure; and its Silver and Bronze Sponsors.

The 2026 cohort:

Amy Amesbury, Director of Partner Marketing, Kinly

Kim Beard, Product Development and Account Manager, Digibox

Anna Bell, Head of Operations, Southby Productions

Danielle Bond, Operations Director, MADE AV

Emily Burrows, Associate Director, Plaster PR

Carina Dengler, Regional Sales Manager, QSC

Amanda Greaves, Client Services and Sales Manager, Electrosonic

Danielle Hastings, Sales Team and HR Coordinator, Hive

Ashleigh Harding, Sales Manager, End User Sales Team, Sharp Displays

Stephanie Izzi, Global Head of Brand Awareness and Thought Leadership, Shure

Emma Kemp, Purchasing Manager UK, Diversified

Kelly Legood, Financial Controller UK&I, Midwich

Rebecca Lloyd, Global Program Director, Kinly

Elena Lown, Technical Support Manager, Brompton

Laura McCarthy, Business Development Manager, Hereworks

Cassy Anyiam, BDR Manager, Neat

Amy Pusey, Head of Sales and Vendor Operations, Konekt

Ruth Read, Director, blooloop

Sandra Schr der, Manager Audio Foundation, Sennheiser

Lauren Sweeney, UX/UI Designer, 7th Sense

Carys Thomas Steer, Head of Installs, Sales & Special Projects, Southby Productions

Fay Vincent, Visual Technologies Facilitator, James Hutton

Georgia Watson, European Marketing Executive, Konekt

We spend a lot of time talking about how to attract new people into AV, but we need to put just as much energy into keeping the talented people we already have, says Rachael Hamilton, Managing Director, Rise AV. Women are still underrepresented in leadership, and we can't afford to lose their experience and potential as they progress through their careers. Elevate is about investing in that talent, giving women the tools and opportunities to grow into leadership roles and helping businesses build stronger teams for the future.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/10/29/rise-av-names-23-women-to-2026-...
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