Virtual IPREX Leadership Development Conference.
16 - 20 March
Sponsored by:
The Virtual ILDC is a four-part leadership experience designed to broaden how emerging agency leaders understand themselves, the people they work with and the audiences they aim to reach. Available exclusively to IPREX members.
What You'll Explore:
How different working styles, cultural perspectives and communication preferences shape team dynamics
How messages are interpreted in real-world contexts across cultures
Building self-awareness and understanding others
Leading teams with cultural insight in strategic communication
What You'll Gain:
A deeper understanding of yourself and others
Confidence to lead with clarity and adaptability
Strategic awareness to shape communication approaches that resonate across different contexts
Skills that elevate your contribution and accelerate your growth
Meet your Facilitators.
Alexandra Mayhew | IPREX Executive Director & ILDC Lecturer
Alexandra brings extensive experience in global communication and leadership development. Throughout the conference, she will deliver daily recorded presentations exploring key frameworks and best practices, and moderate engaging live panel discussions with industry experts and IPREX senior leaders.
Maree Rigney | Emerging Leaders Committee Chair
As Chair of the Emerging Leaders Committee, Maree understands the challenges facing today's agency professionals. She will open each day with a recorded welcome message, introducing the theme, sharing personal insights, and setting the tone for meaningful learning and connection.
Learning Approach.
The programme blends practical learning with insights from experienced agency principals, senior in-house leaders and specialist leadership coaches from across the IPREX network and beyond. Through real examples, reflective exercises and facilitated discussions, you'll examine how your own assumptions shape your leadership and how cultural awareness strengthens communication strategies.
This is a rare opportunity to step outside day-to-day work, learn directly from industry peers and experts, and return to your agency with actionable leadership skills.
Content Focus Areas.
Self-Awareness
Day 1 explores the link between emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, and effective leadership. Participants will reflect on their personal strengths and blind spots, learn how culture influences communication, and identify strategies to lead with empathy and adaptability.
Cultural Awareness
Day 2 explores how cultural differences play out in the way messages are communicated. This session will use tools such as Hofstede's cultural model to examine conversational norms and understand how they help or hinder conversations. Delegates will develop a more nuanced understanding of communications around the world.
Leading Teams
Day 3 explore leading teams in complex agency environments requires leaders who can adapt to different working styles, create clarity under pressure and bring people together around a shared purpose. Delegates will explore how their own leadership tendencies influence team dynamics and how to strengthen cohesion in diverse groups
Impacts to Strategies
Communication strategies succeed when they reflect the people and contexts they are designed for. Day 4 explores how cultural insight and local knowledge strengthen strategic choices. Delegates will examine which parts of a strategy need to shift across audiences and how to refine messaging so it connects with the people it is intended for.
Daily Course Schedule (M-Th).
1 Outline & objectives
To set the direction for the day and prompt participants to reflect on what they want to explore or understand more deeply.
2 Worksheet
The worksheets support delegates to connect learning from each session with their own behaviours, assumptions, and professional practice. Reviewed in advance, completed during & post session.
3 Pre-reads
Focused materials to introduce key concepts. 30-60 minutes per unit. Can be completed in advance.
4 Unit Welcomes
In Maree Rigney’s recorded welcomes she frames each day’s theme, shares lived leadership perspective, and prepares delegates for the sessions ahead. 2-3 minutes. Watch on-demand.
5 Lectures
Each recorded presentation from Alexandra Mayhew explores the day’s core ideas, frameworks, and best practices, linking theory to practical leadership and communication challenges. 7-10 minutes. Watch on-demand.
6 Expert Panel Interview
The live panel brings together experienced agency leaders and senior practitioners to share real-world perspectives, practical examples, and honest reflections on how the day’s themes play out in practice. 60 minutes with Q&A. Live.
7 Breakout Groups
Daily breakout groups begin with a focused, strategically linked prompt, giving delegates space to reflect, share perspectives, and apply the day’s insights to their own work. 30 minutes . Live.
8 Forum Discussions
Group discussions in the Member Portal are closed, delegate-only conversations guided by focused, content-linked prompts designed to deepen reflection and reinforce learning. On-demand.
9 One-on-one Q&A
Panellists and the course lecturer remain available post-program to answer questions and provide additional support.
Additional Activities.
Prior to the conference week, delegates will take part in a structured meet-and-greet designed to build professional networks and provide an opportunity to introduce their work and showcase their agencies.
The conference week concludes on Friday with a 60-minute virtual happy hour, offering space for continued conversation and deeper exploration of topics of interest.
Course Design.
The Virtual ILDC has been designed by Alexandra Mayhew, drawing on her experience building and running a communications agency, her role as Executive Director of IPREX, and her academic work teaching a Master’s-level course in Strategic Global Corporate Communications at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Across these roles, Alexandra has worked closely with agency leaders, client teams, and global stakeholders, navigating complex cultural, organisational, and market contexts. The structure and content of the program reflect the realities of agency life. The course blends industry insight with academic frameworks to ensure learning is practical, relevant, and immediately applicable.
