31% of entry-level women have a sponsor versus 45% of men, and it shows up at every rung after

Look for a counselor. You will hear it at every Richmond leadership panel, in every new-hire orientation and in most of the kind notes that landed in your inbox during your first five years. Pick a senior person who will sit down with you over coffee, walk you through how the organization really runs and help you work through the tough decisions. That counsel is valuable, and most women in the region took it.

Mentoring only takes you about halfway there. A mentor speaks with you. A sponsor speaks for you, in meetings you are not invited to, and puts some of their own standing on the line to do it. Men receive that second kind of help more often, and the gap it creates above you explains more than anything listed on your résumé.

1. The disparity begins at the bottom rung and never closes

According to the 2025 Women in the Workplace study from McKinsey and LeanIn, 31% of women at the entry level have a sponsor, compared with 45% of men. That gap marks the beginning of the race, long before anyone in Richmond or RVA has had a fair chance to demonstrate their abilities. That same research showed that while 100 men are promoted to manager, only 93 women are, and just 74 women of color. The missing sponsorship comes first. The promotion shortfall follows.

2. Mentors help refine how you think, but sponsors decide who makes the shortlist.

Consider the last three promotions you saw happen in your own company, whether it is a bank in Glen Allen, a utility downtown or a hospital in Chesterfield. In a private meeting, somebody either says "I'd put her forward" or the name simply never comes up. Whatever happens in that room stays the same no matter how many coffee chats you have. A mentor's sway stops at the threshold of that closed-door discussion. A sponsor's work happens after it closes. If every senior relationship you have stops at that door, you have been well advised and never once put forward.

3. Ambition is not what's missing, backing is

Also from the 2025 study: 80% of women seek a promotion, versus 86% of men, and when women receive equal support, that difference vanishes. Among all forms of that support, sponsorship carries the most weight. Consequently, when talent reviews in Central Virginia discuss women's ambition, they are often really discussing sponsorship without naming it. No one doubts the motivation of a candidate whom an influential executive has already endorsed.

Here is where the traditional advice still applies.

Even now, mentors are something you will want in your corner, Richmond professionals included. A mentor can tell you what the CFO really values and why your last proposal got stuck in committee. Through the guidance of a mentor, you come to understand the informal norms that shape how an organization truly operates. The mistake lies in treating them as players on the field. Hold on to those relationships, but be candid about which role each senior colleague is really playing.

A different route ahead

Pick one senior leader who has watched your work closely, and request the concrete action a sponsor takes. Avoid the broad question "Will you be my sponsor?" since it is uncomfortable and easy to deflect. Try something more concrete: "I'm aiming for the regional lead role when it opens. "When the Chesterfield slate comes up, would you be comfortable saying you'd support me?" That phrasing names the setting, the position and the specific step. Should they accept, a sponsor is now in your corner in RVA. A pause tells you there is more work ahead, and at least now you know it.

Then, in Richmond or elsewhere in Central Virginia, offer that same backing to a person who reports to you. Once those who benefit from sponsorship begin offering it to others, it becomes a standard practice across the organization.

Who has advocated for you in a meeting you weren't part of, and when did you last ask someone to speak up for you?