Someone who seeks a relationship with a mentor is a mentee. A mentee may have an interest in or a need for the following:

• Career or leadership growth
• Career change
• Solutions to career challenges
• Developing untapped potential
• Learning from an experienced professional
• Focusing on professional, technical and communication skills

Be prepared to articulate what you want to learn as a mentee and what you hope the relationship with a mentor can help you accomplish. A mentee should have an overall plan as well as written goals for each meeting to maximize the time donated by the mentor to:

• Initiate and drive the relationship
• Identify initial learning goals
• Seek feedback
• Allocate time and energy
• Follow through on commitments or renegotiate appropriately
• Spend at least an hour a month, face to face or via telephone, with a mentor. We suggest you spend more time at the first meeting to get to know each other

Understand that the mentor program does not provide counseling or advice on personal matters.

An application must be completed on line. Once the application is completed, you will receive an email advising whether or not your mentoring request can be filled. If your mentoring needs can be matched, you will be contacted directly by your mentor. If it cannot be immediately filled, we will keep your request on file until we can locate a mentor - up to six months. After six months, you must complete a new application.

The program time commitment is one year with a three month minimum at which time there is an opportunity to:

• Remain and continue to the end of the program (which is a minimum of nine meetings and maximum of one year)
• Change mentors
• Release from the program

Special Note:

The initial launch of the WLA Mentor Program will be a pilot for six months, and participation will be limited to 10 relationships for the pilot period. Selection of the pilot participants is not predetermined, so all interested parties are encouraged to submit their applications and materials as soon as possible. Individuals who are not selected for the pilot will be invited to participate in the program at the end of the pilot period. For those who are selected to participate in the pilot program, unless the relationship is terminated by either party should last for the designated pilot length (six months) at which point the participants will have the option to either end the relationship, or continue for up to one year (an additional six months).

Copyright 2008 DCRCOC Women's Leadership Alliance Mentor Committee