Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest initiative is a bit like speed dating, but these eight-minute chats are not for hopeful singles looking for mates.
On Thursday morning at Barnard’s Diana Event Oval, Bloomberg, along with Barnard President Debora Spar, announced the launch of Mentor it Forward—a new initiative designed to connect female students with female mentors—to a crowd of around 200.
Bloomberg explained that the program, overseen by the city’s Commission on Women’s Issues in partnership with Barnard, will provide young women of all ages with access to career and life advice. The mayor chose the Thursday launch date in commemoration of Women’s History Month, and selected Barnard as the announcement venue because he said the College played a key role in helping his office structure the program.
Speaking of the role of females in the workforce, Bloomberg said, “They say you can’t do everything, but every day you prove that you can.”
During his brief remarks, Bloomberg explained that the “speed mentoring” component of his initiative—which consists of eight-minute, one-on-one sessions between mentor and mentee—will allow more working women to participate. He mentioned that some women are dissuaded from mentoring because of hectic professional and personal schedules.
The program will hold sessions where female students will have the opportunity to network individually with industry leaders for a few minutes each.
“The rapid-fire format of the program allows students to get career advice from people they otherwise wouldn’t have access to,” Bloomberg said. “There is no question strong women leaders benefited from someone giving them a hand.”
Bloomberg has spearheaded similar initiatives in recent years. In 2009, his office inaugurated the “NYC Women’s Resource Network,” a website focused on promoting greater financial literacy among women.
The mayor was joined on stage Thursday morning by Spar, CBS 2 news anchor and reporter Cindy Hsu, and Commission on Women’s Issues chair Anne Sutherland Fuchs.
“When people have mentors, they do better in their careers,” Spar said. “We should go for as wide a range as possible. We want to find mentors of all careers, of all ages, and decide what will work for you.” She added, “I have had mentors of all different flavors in my life.”
The audience was predominantly female, and several attendees said they were interested in being mentors and assisting with the effort.
Andrea March, co-founder of the Women’s Leadership Exchange, a national networking platform for professional women, said in an interview, “The mayor’s initiative is wonderful. Even if the sessions are only eight minutes long, it is certainly enough time for a real conversation, and these women are certainly bright enough to take advantage of the time.”
Some Barnard administrators said they are also interested in Mentor it Forward because they attribute their own personal accomplishments to the influence of past mentors.
“We’ve all had mentors, and we’ve all benefited,” said Human Resources Director Lori McFarland.
Budget Director Mary Schlitzer added, “In a short amount of time, you can make a big difference.”
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