Twenty-two people from across UK audio and radio will receive six months of mentoring through the Audio Academy’s industry development programme.
The Audio Academy has announced the participants selected for its 2026 mentoring initiative, which pairs mid-career professionals with senior figures from across the broadcast and podcast sector.
Now in its fifth year, the scheme supports people with at least five years of professional experience working in radio and audio. It connects them with established industry leaders to help them develop leadership skills, confidence and career direction.
The programme, supported by Broadcast Bionics and BBC Sounds, offers confidential one to one mentoring sessions alongside seminars and training workshops. These are led by programme lead Fran Plowright, founder of Meet a Mentor.
Twenty-two people have been chosen following a competitive selection process led by judging chair Adele Cross, producer of BBC Radio 1Xtra Breakfast with Nadia Jae.
The selected mentees work across many parts of the sector including production, journalism, presentation, engineering, management and digital content.
The cohort includes BBC Studios senior podcast producer Elle Scott, RNIB Connect Radio producer Hywel Davies, Reform Radio senior producer Olivia Swift and MIC Media founder Vic Turnbull.
Participants will also be matched with experienced mentors drawn from across the industry. Those taking part include Sony Music vice president and head of content Chris Skinner, Apple Podcasts head of international Susie Warhurst, Spotify partner manager Rachel Simpson and Amazon Music head of spoken word for Europe, Australia and New Zealand Megan Bradshaw.
Audio Academy managing director Dixi Stewart said the relationship between mentors and mentees is central to the programme’s impact.
“The relationship between a mentor and a mentee is precious and often of great benefit to both. One of the great strengths of UK radio and audio is its rich diversity of voices and Audio Academy Mentoring seeks to create space for growth and development both for individuals and the industry as a whole.
“The programme equips participants with confidence and perspective at a critical point in their professional journey and it’s wonderfully inspiring to see people thrive and achieve long held ambitions.”
The mentoring programme runs for six months and focuses on supporting professionals at a stage when many face barriers to progression in their careers.
The full list of mentees and mentors, along with biographies, is available now from the Audio Academy website.
