The Vision

The Minerva Network is an Australian not-for-profit dedicated to supporting elite female athletes on and off the field. With a strong focus on mentoring, leadership, and professional development, Minerva brings together Australia’s top sportswomen with mentors from business, government, and community leadership.

In 2022, Minerva set a bold goal: reach and engage 1000 athletes by 2025. But with a lean operations team, rotating interns, and volunteer support, scaling their impact wasn’t just a matter of effort—it needed a smarter system.

That’s where we came in.

The Problem

Minerva had big ambitions, but their internal operations were holding them back. We uncovered four core challenges:

• Manual Admin Processes
  Spreadsheets, scattered emails, and document reviews drained time and created bottlenecks.

• Fragmented Registration
  Multiple form pathways confused users and led to inconsistent submissions from both athletes and mentors.

• No Way to Track Engagement
  Without a central system, Minerva couldn’t monitor mentoring progress or collect meaningful feedback at scale.

• Limited Resources
  A small internal team and rotating volunteers couldn’t keep up with the admin load or growing user base.

Minerva needed a custom-built, scalable, and cost-effective digital infrastructure—one that could centralise operations and elevate the mentoring experience for everyone involved.

Our Approach

Minerva’s fractional COO, Kristy Bayley, partnered with Shenal Harakh, founder of Sunset Studio and certified Softr expert, to bring this vision to life.

We designed and delivered a powerful custom solution: a CRM-powered mentoring platform built using Airtable, Softr, Zapier, and supporting tools like Twilio and Humanitix.

1. Centralised CRM in Airtable

We built an Airtable database to manage every athlete, mentor, and industry contact in one place.
Key features included:

• Unified data management with easy filtering and views

• Automations for task scheduling, follow-ups, and status updates

• Communication segmentation by role and stage in the mentoring journey

2. Mentoring Program Automation

We introduced a structured mentoring framework with built-in intelligence:

• Matching Engine: Pairing athletes and mentors by skills, goals, and location

• Touchpoint Automation: Initial, 6-month, and 12-month surveys triggered at the right time

• Goal Setting & Resources: Embedded development modules and worksheets

3. User-Centric Softr Portal

The front-end portal brought everything together in a clean, secure experience:

• Self-service registration and onboarding

• Custom dashboards for athletes, mentors, and admins

• Connection requests, learning modules, and mentoring program tracking

• Authentication via email and one-time passcode

  
  

Implementation

We rolled out the system in two phases over several months:

Phase 1: CRM Migration & Communication Setup

• Consolidated years of spreadsheets into one Airtable

• Rebuilt forms and registration pathways for clarity

• Set up email and SMS automations using Twilio and Zapier

Phase 2: Portal Development & Mentoring Tools

• Built and tested the Softr portal internally

• Launched mentoring dashboards, learning centre, and engagement surveys

• Delivered automated reports to support governance and program tracking

We worked closely with internal teams, testing assumptions, collecting feedback, and refining the system to suit Minerva’s real-world workflows.

Results

The results speak for themselves:

• 70% reduction in administrative workload

• 50% increase in athlete registrations

• 2000+ active users across the network

• Real-time insights via dashboards and survey tracking

• Scalable digital community, ready for Minerva’s future growth

What’s Next

The Minerva Network now has a rock-solid digital foundation. Looking ahead, we’re exploring:

• Expanded community networking features

• Smarter mentor-mentee matching

• Deeper analytics and reporting for governance and program impact

  
  

What the Client Said

"Shenal delivered an exceptional job on our automation of a bespoke program using Airtable. The solution is seamless, and her communication was exceptional including the handover of the project. I really enjoyed working with Shenal and hope to use her again on future projects. I highly recommend Shenal"

— Kristy Bayley, Fractional Chief Operating Officer, Minerva Network