Mentoring has been described as a process of sharing experiences and transferring and exchanging information between professionals as they develop a long-term relationship that will provide insight for leadership.

The Network of Executive Women has an ongoing Facilitated Mentoring Program that begins with a structured orientation session. When you register for the session, you will be interviewed to determine your skills and objectives and to match mentors and protégés.

The Network of Executive Women Facilitated Mentoring Program is designed to help you maximize your potential, empower you and position you for even greater success!

Benefits for Organizations

• Enhances strategic business initiatives
• Encourages retention
• Reduces turnover costs
• Improves productivity
• Enhances professional development
• Links employees with valuable knowledge from an external perspective
• Supports a diverse workforce by creating relationships across the industry and allowing professional development through facilitated mentoring
• Over time, creates a mentoring culture, which continuously promotes individual employee growth and development

Benefits for Mentors

• Gains insight from the protégé's background and history that can be used in the mentor's professional and personal development
• Re-energizes the mentor's career
• Broadens the network of industry contacts
• Enhances leadership and communication skills
• Broadens industry perspective from a different corporate culture
• Connection to emerging leaders

Benefits for Protégés

• Learns from the mentor's expertise
• Receives critical feedback in key areas, such as communications, interpersonal relationships, technical abilities, change-management and leadership skills
• Develops a sharper focus on what is needed to grow professionally
• Learns specific skills and knowledge relevant to professional and personal goals
• Enhances the ability to network with more influential industry leaders
• Gains knowledge that can be critical for success; as a result, adapts more quickly to the organization's culture

Why Mentoring?

Lack of role models is often cited as a barrier to success for many women. NEW’s Facilitated Mentoring Program offers you the opportunity to foster trusting relationships for networking, coaching, counseling, life lessons and for the best way to share your knowledge, experience and expertise.

Success Stories

NEW’S Mentoring Program has been enthusiastically received because it works. Here’s what recent participants have to say about the program:

Protégés

“I really appreciate all of the sound advice and challenges that my mentor gave me for this past year. It was my first formal mentoring program outside of my company and the timing of it could not have been better. It's hard to communicate the value of having a non-biased person giving you career counsel, especially (from) a woman. I really got so much more out of this than I ever expected. Thank you for that.”

Ellen Schum
Senior Director Category Sales Planning
Kraft Foods

“Participating in the mentor program has been a very fulfilling and rewarding experience. My relationship with my mentor partner has helped me tremendously with my career development and planning. Through our regularly scheduled coaching and mentoring sessions I have been able to identify and focus my career planning and development needs in a well thought out and focused manner.

It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to share career challenges and situations in an open forum with my mentor. This has allowed me to gain new insights and perspectives, which have assisted in my ability to more effectively respond as a leader and engage with senior executive level management. I highly recommend this program for anyone who is committed to participating in a highly collaborative career skills development process.”

Carolyn S. Hood
Senior Director of Sales & National C-Stores
Blue Rhino Corporation

“The mentor program is a spectacular way to increase contacts, improve relationships, and to learn more about your personal goals. It has helped me to better understand my career path and set me on a course of career success. My mentor, a senior industry executive, took time to plan and discuss my career direction. The NEW Mentor program is the most comprehensive developmental tool to build your industry contacts and career.”

Molly Deady Washburn
Associate Director, Food Industry Leadership Center
Portland State University

Mentors

“As a mentor in the program I have gained education and insight into myself that has been extremely valuable and useful in my growth. The program has opened me up to other alternatives that are more magnificent than I had ever imagined in my life by taking this journey. The value of the Birkman tool for self-assessment and the leadership that the program facilitator provided to the group and me has been life changing. I have a true understanding of my real gifts and how they show up daily for me in all that I am involved in. The program is awesome and one of the best that I have experienced in my 22 years as a professional!”

Brenda Dunn Kinney
President
BDK & Associates, Ltd.

“I recently participated in the Network's mentoring program in an effort to ‘practice what I preach’ and to ‘give back.’ Many people have mentored me in my career--back when I started at P&G and still today at Deloitte--and for that, I know I am a better employee and a better person. As a member of the Network's Executive Committee, I am always encouraging others to get more involved, so it only seemed fitting that I do the same.

I found NEW’s program to be one of the best formal mentoring processes I have ever gone through. The use of the Birkman [self-assessment] tool, along with a terrific facilitator, made it an enjoyable, rich experience. I learned a lot about my protégé during that day, but I also learned a lot about myself, as well. I believe this is one of the best investments a company can make in helping their women succeed.”

Alison Kenney Paul
Senior Manager
Deloitte & Touche LLC

The Commitment

NEW’s Facilitated Mentoring Program is designed to maximize your potential. In order to successfully complete this program, each mentoring pair is dependent on their partner for success in achieving their goals. NEW will match successful mentoring partners using their individual skill sets and interpersonal dynamics. It is critical that you complete the program’s pre-work to ensure that you are matched with the best possible partner. It is essential that both partners attend and fully participate in the orientation session.

By registering for this program, you are agreeing to the following commitments:

1. I commit to become a NEW member.
2. I commit to register by the deadline and pay any applicable registration fees.
3. I commit to complete the program pre-work prior to the deadline.
4. I commit to contact my protégé/mentor prior to the orientation session to introduce myself.
5. I commit to provide my partner with my résumé prior to the orientation.
6. I commit to attend and stay for the entire orientation session.
7. I commit to a 1one-year mentoring relationship with my partner.
8. I commit to provide monthly updates/reviews to track progress of the program.
9. I commit to communicate the value of my participation in the program to my organization.
10. I commit to myself to complete the program and focus on maximizing my potential for greater success.

Membership Benefits

The mission of the Network of Executive Women is to attract, retain and advance women in the consumer products and retail industry through education, leadership and business development. Membership brings these benefits to you and your organization:

• Access to training and development programs that complement your development plan
• Exposure to a network of high achievers, industry mentors and role models
• The opportunity to expand your business network
• The knowledge you need to be a diversity champion
• Heightened visibility within your company
• Stronger links to executives within your company
• Expanded profile within the industry
• A chance to position your company as an “employer of choice”

Programs

NEW members can develop/enhance leadership, business skills, network with other women and industry executives, learn about opportunities and strategies for personal and business advancement, find mentors, increase visibility and reduce the sense of isolation in the industry by participating in any of its programs:

• Facilitated Mentoring Program – with orientation sessions
• Annual Leadership Summit – national event
• Regional Networking Events – outreach at local level
• Industry Outreach – speaking engagements at major industry events
• Database and Website – online access to other members and job database
• Volunteer Outreach – identify skill gaps and build those skills in a safe environment

For corporate sponsorship contact

Joan Toth
Executive Director
Tel 312 693-5393 Fax 312 726-4704
jtoth@newonline.org

Nathalia Granger
Director of Operations
Tel 312 693-5855 Fax 312 726-4704
ngranger@newonline.org

The Network of Executive Women
c/o Avanade/Accenture
161 North Clark St., 37th floor
Chicago, IL 60601

For membership and events contact

Anna N. Duran
Member Services
Tel 713-888-5305 Fax 713 888-5161
aduran@newonline.org

The Network of Executive Women
c/o CCNA
2000 St. James Place
P.O. Box 2079
Houston, TX 77252-2079

© Copyright 2007 by the Network of Executive Women. All rights reserved. About this site.