Diane Faben Turned Challenges into Change to Uplift Women Through Mentorship

Leveraging one’s personal battles to craft a blueprint for collective empowerment is undeniably powerful. Those who turn adversity into advocacy create ripples beyond their lives, opening doors for others. Diane Faben is one such individual. She founded Mentors For Women, an organization born from her decades-long journey in male-dominated boardrooms, systemic gender bias, and a belief that women deserve spaces where their voices are heard and amplified.

Diane has extensive experience guiding high-performance teams and managing complex services and transitions across the energy, government, and utilities sectors as a senior client service manager for over 20 years. As a leader, problem-solver, motivator, and trusted advisor in sales and contractual negotiation, she has built her career on competence, an unshakeable work ethic, and a passion for client care and quality. Even with this vast record, Diane was no stranger to being underestimated. Still, she’s known for holding firm to her values and empathising in environments that usually demand emotional detachment.

Navigating a Male-Dominated Workforce

To understand the roots of Diane’s determination, it’s worth discerning her journey. She left school at 16, uncertain of what path to take. Diane then took jobs that exposed her to the basics of the workplace and, at the same time, revealed the underlying dynamics of power and gender.

In one of her first roles, she was made to stand on desks to open windows by a supervisor, an act that made her feel exposed, vulnerable, and small. Unknown to her, at the time, this would only be one of the many instances where she encounters discrimination simply for being a woman.

Years later, a male colleague dismissed Diane’s ambitions to become an operations director when she was confidently managing multi-million-pound contracts. He told her she lacked the financial experience, although she had always proved her capability.

Turning Adversity into Advocacy

Diane began sharing her insights with other women, which made her realize that her story was far from unique. “So many women came to me, sharing the same experiences of being overlooked, talked down to, and unsure of how to assert themselves in the workplace,” she states. From giving informal advice, Diane recognized a systemic gap.

“Women needed more than encouragement. They needed a space where they could ask questions, be heard without being judged, and learn how to navigate their personal and professional life,” she adds. In other words, they needed mentors. This discovery gave birth to Mentors For Women, a culmination of everything Diane had lived, endured, and believed. It was her answer to a lifelong question: “How do we help women thrive without asking them to become someone else in the process?”

On Mentoring Women

Founded in the United Kingdom, Mentors For Women serves as a mentorship platform with a global reach. It connects women seeking personal and professional growth with experienced mentors from around the world, from Singapore to Finland. It aims to match women with those who understand their unique needs, cultural backgrounds, and aspirations.

The organisation champions emotional intelligence as a strength, recognising that strategic thinking and empathy are powerfully complementary. “Women are still expected to lead like men in order to be taken seriously,” Diane says. “The truth is that our emotional intelligence is an asset and not a weakness.” Mentors For Women is here to show women how to use that strength strategically.

A New Avenue of Support

In true Diane fashion, the end goal is to build a cycle of support. She wants women to be supported, to be themselves, and to be successful in their own right. Above all, she desires for women to learn how to support other women. Committed to this mission, Diane launched Just For Women, a networking group that aims to provide women with a platform to speak and be seen. Despite being only launched this year, it has already opened up a second location. Building on this momentum, she aims to extend Just for Women’s impact across the UK.

Diane Faben’s story is about rewriting the rules of what women can be and how far they can go when they have the right support. Turning a lifetime of learning into a legacy of leadership, she has created a sanctuary where women can start rising.