The PWN Mentoring Programme 2017/18
By Lisa Christandl
Launching the PWN Mentoring Programme the three of us, Karin, Elena and I, took over the well established PWN Vienna Mentoring Programme from Brikena Statovci and Caroline Loftin. We were not sure how many people would already know about and be interested in attending the mentoring programme. Since we were so passionate about the concept, we wanted to reach out to as many people as possible. So we launched several marketing initiatives, but never expected the huge response. We received 32 mentor and 61 mentee applications. It took a real investment of time to fi nd the best possible fit between mentors and mentees and after 2 weeks we were ready to launch the start of the programme.
The statistics of the programme are highlighting the core values of PWN:
Sharing Expertise & Community Support: accomplished mentors working in different disciplines, such as HR management, business coaching, psychotherapy as well as entrepreneurs, leaders and managers in various fields, are willing to share their knowledge and experiences.
Career Advancement & Personal Growth for Women: the groups are working on about 15 mentoring topics, ranging from job search, career advancement, entrepreneurship, management and leadership skills to work life balance, unlocking potential, pluck and happiness.
Inter-cultural Understanding & Diversity: women and men from over 30 nationalities and of ages ranging between 22 and 65 years, are coming together. We were moved by the motives, passions and reasons of both mentors and mentees to join our programme and would like to share some of them with you:
Mentees:
To advance their careers and fi nd their career paths
To find self confi dence and motivation to reach their goals
To find a role model, to learn and grow professionally and personally
To gain new perspectives and share ideas
To learn from an expert, work in a team and develop and improve skills
Mentors:
To give back the support they have received throughout their career and to share their knowledge
To support others in achieving their dreams and goals
To help others grow and to develop themselves, to inspire and get inspired
To contribute to the network as well as to society
To grow stronger together
These motives really underline the motto of our mentoring programme “We rise by lifting others”, since mentors and mentees are clearly motivated to share their knowledge, experiences and support each other.
“We are happy that all participants had a good time, learning from, challenging and inspiring each other to grow."
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Pre-kick-off and kick-off events
At the beginning of October nearly all mentors joined in a new feature of the programme, our Pre-kick-off event. It was an opportunity to get to know more about the
issues as well as each other. After an inspiring introduction to PWN, every mentor and ourselves – the mentoring coordinators – talked about mentoring goals and benefi ts,
details of the programme and shared experiences. We really felt everybody's commitment and enjoyed a great evening. Our Kick-off event generated a crowded room of mentors and mentees getting to know each other and obviously having a good time. Karin inspired us all with her great presentation describing her personal experiences of mentoring. We received lots of positive feedback on the great
atmosphere, the good pairing of mentor and mentees and our programme overall. We are happy that all participants had a good time, learning from, challenging and inspiring
each other to grow. As our programme runs until June 2018, we will have additional workshops and events. We are looking forward to continuing this inspiring journey together!
Lisa Christandl, Karin Fleck and Elena Padurariu