MentorNet News – May 2010 Volume 1

e-mentoring for diversity in engineering and science   In This Issue Congratulations to our Winners! The Invincibelle and the Trust Prompt AAAS' Daryl Chubin Cites MentorNet as a Leader Global Competitiveness and U.S. Talent Development Conference MentorNet at MDWIT Conference Quick Links Featured Quote "If I could offer one piece of advice to all students, it would be to seek a mentor. If I could offer a second: become a mentor." -- Prof. Steven Lerman, Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies, MIT A Web Design and Marketing Firm that Gets It Are you looking for a great web design firm? The closer we get to the launch of our new website, the better it looks, thanks in large part to our web design partners, Julie and Dave Darby of MyWebPilot.  They not only delivered a great design and surmounted some very challenging programming hurdles in the backend, they built in very favorable costs because they loved our mission. Moreover, they recognized the scarcity of our resources and understood the complex layers of our service, delivering great solutions every time. It's our turn to help repay them by letting you know they're available. Email Julie Darby at jdarby@mywebpilot.com or call her at (772) 419-8690 and let her know MentorNet sent you. Thank You to Our New and Renewing Partners in April Brooklyn College of CUNY Lockheed Martin Space Systems New Mexico State University Northwestern University University of California, San Diego University of Southern California May 2010, Vol. I www.mentornet.net Congratulations to our Winners! Nora Dominguez, Director, Mentoring Institute, University of New Mexico We're excited to announce the winners of our Spring Campaign to recruit new protégés, ending on the anniversary of Anita Borg's death, April 6th. University of New Mexico won for the highest number of signups, and University of Hawaii, Manoa, for the highest ratio of signups to size of the student body. They both receive 10% off their MentorNet annual fees for next year. The campus "Reps" at these universities are the true champions of this contest. Nora Dominguez, Director of the Mentoring Institute at University of New Mexico said, "Our goal is to create opportunities for our students to establish professional networks at early stages of their careers in order to enhance the quality of their education and to envision their careers after graduation." Isla Young, program manager of the Women in Technology Project at the Maui Economic Development Board in Hawaii, said, "Women in Technology (WIT) have been pleased to sponsor MentorNet at all of our UH-system campuses for nearly a decade because we know everyone enters STEM pathways from a different portal, and MentorNet has been a key tool in keeping women and minorities in the STEM pipeline." Continue reading here. -Leila Armush, Media and Communications Consultant The Invincibelle and the Trust Prompt Yesterday I met Deepika Bajaj, Founder and President of Invincibelles. Go to her site (www.deepikabajaj.com) and you'll see why I was eager to meet her. Among her many accomplishments - former electrical engineer for AT&T, author of  Diversity/Tweet, serial entrepreneur -  she's now turning her considerable energy and vision to building "a community for ... women who live and work in this flat world economy." In the course of our conversation, Deepika gave me not one but two mentoring moments. The first came when we were comparing the kinds of cultures we try to build in our respective organizations. Deepika said, "You know, trust lowers the cost of doing business." Wow. This was one of those moments: an insight so simple but so powerful you know it's going to keep you meditating on it for a long time to come. In this case, I was immediately tempted to incorporate the subject of TRUST into our program. Trust, as Deepika said, among all its other obvious benefits to the happiness and psychic health of a company, also makes good business sense. It reduces time-consuming second-guessing and checking to a minimum. When there's trust, there's a reliable handoff and collaboration. Teammates' efforts amplify each other. Continue reading here. -David Porush, CEO AAAS' Daryl Chubin Cites MentorNet as a Leader on Mentoring Studies On April 28, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held a teleconference announcing its new publication Navigating a Complex Landscape to Foster Greater Faculty and Student Diversity in Higher Education. During the call, authors Dr. Daryl Chubin, Director of the Center for the Advancing Science and Engineering Capacity, Dr. Shirley M. Malcom, Head of Education and Human Resources Programs and Jamie Lewis Keith, Vice President and General Counsel, University of Florida reflect on mentoring as a key component to the advancement of students and faculty. Chubin referenced a leading report published by MentorNet that found "students of color claimed to benefit more from mentoring than non-minorities..." Continue reading here. -Lisa Jennings, Senior Consultant on Strategic Partnerships and Outreach MentorNet at Global Competitiveness and U.S. Talent Development Conference Strengthening America's talent pool has never been more important to this country's economic growth and security. That's why MentorNet joined government leaders, policy makers, and practitioners from the non-profit and academic communities in Washington, DC at the George Washington University Marvin Center for a half-day conference on Developing and Managing Talent in the U.S. for a Competitive Global Economy. Panel discussions addressed education and talent development policies, workforce development policies, innovation, and competitiveness. Conference attendees were encouraged to expand access to employment beyond traditional job training services and broaden the scope of growth strategies to include an array of industry-valued skills. Mentoring was highlighted as a critical tool among these efforts. -Lisa Jennings, Senior Consultant on Strategic Partnerships and Outreach MentorNet at Multinational Development of Women in Technology's (MDWIT) Conference MentorNet was represented well at the "Global Diversity: Enriching Technology" MDWIT conference held in Columbia, MD. Lisa J. Jennings served on the Mentors and Protégés panel and offered an insiders' perspective on effective strategies to maintain productive relationships through structured mentoring programs. Says Jennings, "It was very important that MentorNet's voice and message was heard by the young women who attended this conference. MentorNet is the only online mentoring resource of its kind specifically for students and early career professionals pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degrees and careers." MentorNet's program was held up as exemplary for its basis in fundamentals necessary for an effective mentoring relationship: privacy, clear guidelines and expectations, ongoing support, and the recruitment of committed volunteer professionals as mentors. "We are very excited about what MentorNet offers our protégés," said Jennings. "We're also excited for our mentors, many of whom are breaking through digital communication and generational barriers. MentorNet gives seasoned STEM professionals the opportunity not only to become re-energized about their careers by engaging younger audiences but to also make a smooth transition into the digital world." Continue reading here. Join Our List     MentorNet is a 501(C)(3) California non-profit educational organization. Our mission is to help engineering and science students at the university level - especially women and underrepresented minorities - achieve their career goals by matching them with mentors and guiding their one-on-one relationships over the Web. We are funded by fees from our campus, corporate, government laboratory and society partners and by grants from public and private foundations.