18 years of incredible mentorship! 1,180 walks with 130,000 participants in 60+ countries since 2008.
The Global Mentoring Walks are back again for their 18th year with a 2025 theme of Lighting The Path.
Last year, there were 100 walks in 40+ countries planned with an estimated 10,000 participants — we hope to expand our reach even further this year! If you are planning a walk and have not registered, please register here to be added to the list below!
The 2025 Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walks will be held the week of International Women’s Day, with a majority of the events scheduled on Saturday, March 8th.
This includes the Vital Voices sponsored walk in New York City with Diane von Furstenberg and Alyse Nelson serving as Flag Bearers.
We look forward to bringing together established and emerging women leaders from all around the world to walk together in the name of inspiring hope within our global communities and the future generation of women leaders.
Below is a list of walks that are being planned this year. This will be updated closer to March 8th as well.
Reminder, register here to have the Global Mentoring Walk happening in your city listed for 2025. You can reach out to our Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walks Coordinator Julia Drake at: juliad@vitalvoices.org or Vice President of Network Leah Lizarondo at: leahl@vitalvoices.org with any questions.
What are the Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walks?
For more than 20 years, Vital Voices has identified women who understand that power expands the moment it’s shared, and who choose to leverage their leadership for collective progress. Across cultures and generations, we have seen that women leaders have a natural inclination to share talent, experience and power.
The Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walks embody this resolve to pay it forward.
Every year, we work with our Global Leadership Network to organize Global Mentoring Walks in their communities, convening women leaders to walk together.
International Women’s Day recognizes women’s contribution to global progress and reminds us of the work that remains to advance women and communities everywhere. It is the ideal opportunity to demonstrate the power of women’s leadership and unite women in support of other women. Through the Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk, mentors and mentees come together to walk in their communities, sharing challenges and solutions and forming supportive bonds that foster growth, confidence and leadership.
This global movement began with one women’s effort to share her knowledge and experience with aspiring women leaders. Geraldine Laybourne, Founder and former CEO of Oxygen Media, responded to requests for advice from young women by inviting them to meet her for a morning walk. It became a routine for Laybourne, and an invaluable opportunity for women who wanted to learn from her experience and perspective. A longtime friend of and board member for Vital Voices, Laybourne introduced the concept to leaders of our Global Leadership Network, who in 2008 took the idea to their home countries and coordinated the first annual Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walks. Since then, more than 550 Walks have been coordinated in over 80 countries around the world.
Find a walk to participate in near you!
List of this year’s current registered walks: