November Monthly Meeting: A Look into the Impact of our Female Mentors

On November 11th, the third monthly meeting of the semester happened virtually, lead by Director of Communications, Liz Sweeney and Co-President, Kayla Evans. This meeting provided a panel of mentors chosen by E-Board members. 

The panel included, Mary Sweeney, Liz Sweeney’s mother and licensed professional counselor; Natalie Walker Brown, mentor and boss to Kayla Evans and Director for Inclusion and Diversity Educational Achievement at SJU; Becki Scola, mentor to Maddie DeMarco and Chair of Political Science Department at SJU; Suzanne Fenzel, mother of Erin Fenzel and attorney for the D.C. Department of Health; and Erin Davison, Kelsey Welsh’s mentor, SJU alumna and Community Engagement Associate at Philadelphia Legal Assistance. 

After explaining their backgrounds, the panel answered questions via address from our honorary moderator Bryana Lewin, Residential Area Manager at SJU. Lewin did a fantastic job in her delivery and engagement with the panel of which included some of the following questions: Who is your mentor?; When has it been important to have a female mentor?; What did you learn from your mentors?; What are pieces of advice would you give to young women?, etc.

The mentors explained that they look for colleagues or friends who have skills that they admire and they either create or use relationships with those people to learn from them. Answers varied from woman to woman but general advice said that women need to trust their instincts in professional settings and be confident and assertive to garner respect in leadership positions.