SEAONC SE3 Long-Term Mentorship Program 2019 Launch Event Recap
Written by: Stephanie Borchers, Rachel Cohen and Brenna Marcoux
Photo credits: Natalie Tse and Zahraa Saiyed
Photo credits: Natalie Tse and Zahraa Saiyed
After previously holding three successful speed mentoring events, the SEAONC SE3 Committee launched its first long-term mentorship event on Tuesday, March 19, at Thornton Tomasetti in San Francisco. The goal of the program is to create mentee-mentor pairs or groups across age, experience, and firms, to encourage less experienced engineers to gain strategic guidance and career advice. Mentees received emails with two potential mentors prior to the event, which were selected for them based on preferences of location, gender, years of experience, etc. The launch event created a chance for the mentees to meet their prospective mentors, and decide who would be a better fit as their mentor.
The night was started with an introduction by Tim Hart, followed by a short presentation by SE3 2018-2019 co-chairs Hayley Dickson and Zahraa Saiyed. They discussed the important role that mentorship plays in retention, using data from SE3’s 2016 and 2018 surveys. Mentorship co-leads Brenna Marcoux and Sarah Sullivan followed with a presentation on the format of the program.
The night was started with an introduction by Tim Hart, followed by a short presentation by SE3 2018-2019 co-chairs Hayley Dickson and Zahraa Saiyed. They discussed the important role that mentorship plays in retention, using data from SE3’s 2016 and 2018 surveys. Mentorship co-leads Brenna Marcoux and Sarah Sullivan followed with a presentation on the format of the program.
Left to right: Tim Hart, Sarah Sullivan, Brenna Marcoux
Mentors were asked to give a short introduction of themselves, and to name the last concert they attended. Answers ranged from Maroon 5, to local bands, to their children’s concerts. Then, everyone broke off for networking and refreshments. Mentees were encouraged to find their prospective mentors and introduce themselves by the end of the night, so they could choose who they would like as their mentor. The networking was lively and engaging, with discussions ranging from career trajectory and mentors’ own experiences with mentorship, to engagement in professional societies.
Feedback from the event was overall positive. Mentees enjoyed speaking with their prospective mentors and hearing their different stories. It was a “monumental event”. Following the event, mentees selected their preference between prospective mentors, and the mentor groups were formed. The mentorship program will end next March, with the mentor groups meeting three times in between.
