PARIS — Dior has formally extended its partnership with UNESCO to provide opportunities for young women through its Women@Dior mentoring and educational program, with a new format designed to expand the reach and impact of the platform through a series of events spread throughout the year.
Previously focused on its marquee annual conference, held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the program is switching to a more regional approach designed to foster local connections between mentors and mentees, and cultivate the transmission of know-how to create opportunities for learning and work.
A group of mentees joined Delphine Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of Christian Dior Couture, and Khaled El-Enany, director general of UNESCO, for a signing ceremony on March 16 where they were invited to share their experiences within the program and discuss topics including creative leadership and social sustainability.
“Dior’s renewed partnership with UNESCO brings to life our shared values through concrete actions aimed at education and the transmission of savoir-faire for the empowerment of women. This ongoing alliance is driven by a durable ambition: that of making a meaningful and responsible impact around the world,” said Arnault, who is a member of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton executive committee and board.
Dior launched the mentoring program in 2017 and joined forces with UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition mid-pandemic in 2020 to launch an online learning platform to address school closure gaps and expand the initiative globally.
Delphine Arnault and Khaled El-Enany with Women@Dior mentees.
Thomas Chéné/Courtesy of Dior
Participants have access to courses taught by professors from schools such as Central Saint Martins in London, Bocconi University in Milan and HEC in Paris. The program also acts as an incubator through the Dream for Change project, a mentee-led initiative dedicated to supporting young women within their local communities.
To date, 2,800 women have been mentored through the program, which pairs students from selected universities, in fields such as business, engineering, art, fashion, hospitality, communication and international relations, with Dior employees. A further 300 were selected among 12,000 applicants to join the 2026-27 cohort.
Following an impact assessment, Dior and UNESCO will formalize the program’s methodology and key learnings with the aim of building a broader ecosystem. This includes expanding the more than 20 educational courses available to mentees under the core categories of Self-Care & Awareness, Autonomy, Creativity, Inclusion and Sustainability.
As part of efforts to raise the visibility of participants in the program, a mentee will moderate workshops at the sixth annual meeting of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition on Tuesday. Around 30 mentees will also contribute to the discussions.
“Every young woman who enters this program brings with her a unique story, a spark of creativity, and the determination to shape her own future. At UNESCO, we strive to give that spark the space to grow,” said El-Enany. “Our partnership with Dior builds on this shared conviction that mentorship, education and culture are powerful drivers to support young women and uplift entire communities.”
