The absence and exclusion of women in Hollywood are severe and unjust, which is why it’s encouraging to see so many initiatives sprout up in recent years to battle industry sexism.

The latest is Indigenous Media’s just-launched Made By Women incubator, which seeks to produce TV series written and directed by women.

Citing the statistic that in 2014 only 19% of top shows had female showrunners and only 2% of top films were helmed by female filmmakers, Made By Women aims to team up emerging writers with industry-establishment mentors, among them Lesli Linka Glatter (“Homeland”), Kasi Lemmons (“Eve’s Bayou”), Sarah Treem (“The Affair”), Betty Thomas (“Private Parts”) and Mimi Leder (“The Leftovers”).

Selected candidates will be nominated by women’s film and media organizations like the PGA’s Women’s Impact Network (West), the Women’s Project Lab, the Alliance of Women Directors, Film Fatales, The Kilroys, Women In Film (Los Angeles) and The Lillys.

Here’s how it works, based on the Made By Women site:

Each organization will select three writer/director candidates, based on her existing material (screenplays, pilots, plays, etc.) Indigenous Media will narrow this list of candidates down and assign each to the mentors. Based on the writing samples, each mentor will select a final candidate.

Indigenous Media will pair five female storytellers with established mentors. Each mentor will guide and encourage each new voice through the process of creating and bringing her project to life. For each pair, Indigenous Media will finance a short pilot, with the potential to produce and fund a full-length version.