FWA mentoring program luncheon

Female professionals and their student counterparts poured into 14-270 on Thursday, Sept. 11, filling the room with a buzzing energy. The Financial Women's Association welcomed back senior mentees and returning mentors, as well as greeted junior mentees and first-time mentors, at the first FWA Mentoring Program Luncheon of the fall semester.

The conversation did not die down until over half an hour later when Ellen Cahill, the FWA liason for the mentoring program, called the room to attention for round robin introductions. She also introduced her "partner in crime" Alyce Mayo, the Baruch coordinator for the mentoring program. One by one, each woman faced the room, sharing her name and profession or major.

"My name is Wendy Leibowitz," said one long-time FWA mentor. "And in my spare time, I work." Laughter followed, as many of the women in the room clearly related to this downside of a successful career woman's life.

"I'm Janet Siegenthaler," said a first-year mentor. "I am an entrepreneur and I consult entrepreneurs on access to capital. If anyone is starting a business, come talk to me." Several other mentors also encouraged the mentees to seek them if they needed help in any area of expertise, ranging from sales and marketing to career planning.

Shoya Zichy, FWA member and author of "Career Match: Connecting Who You are With What You Do," also joined the group. Zichy will present her book at the FWA luncheon in October.

"And if you were not here," asked Cahill, "where would you be right now?"

Responses varied from dreams of a cruise to Greece or vacation in Hawaii, to the more mundane "I'd probably be at work." Some young women wished for days at the beach made impossible by corporate internships and summer classes. Others, however, longed for a return to summer, having spent the months working abroad in places such as Turkey and Haiti.

After everyone at the six tables had had her opportunity to speak, two senior mentees and their mentors shared their experiences on how they were able to maximize the mentoring experience. The message was clear: the mentees greatly benefited from their relationships with the mentors who guided them personally and professionally.

"It is all about using your network," said Pat Kozu, an 11-year mentor whose mentee had spent the summer working in a Mexican youth center run by Kozu's friend, Nadine Goodman. Her mentee had turned to Kozu with the desire to work abroad and Kozu, in turn, turned to the professionals in her own network in order to aid the student.

"[Access to] her network is the most valuable thing your mentor can give you," concurred Dolores Adams, a senior mentee. Adams' mentor, Sharon Brouillette, had worked with the young woman to set up a women's conference, even joining the panel when a speaker pulled out last minute.

Such stories expressed what is at the heart of the FWA Mentoring Program, which aids college students in transitioning to career professionals by creating relationships with female executives.

Even after the program drew to a close and everyone had to return to work or class, many remained in the room, absorbed in conversation, sharing not only business cards, but also actual life advice. They left laden with parting gifts, carrying chocolate rose lollipops prepared by one caring mentee in one hand and Nan Mooney's "I Can't Believe She Did That: Why Women Betray Other Women in the Workplace" in the other.