TechWomen Cultural Mentors
- Inspire emerging women leaders to become change agents in their communities
- Serve as a cultural ambassador and help participants acclimate to life in the San Francisco Bay Area or Chicago
- Build relationships with women across the world
- Join a dynamic, supportive network of more than 1500 TechWomen mentor alumnae
- Give back and share your experiences with others
What is a Cultural Mentor?
How is a cultural mentorship structured?
TechWomen Cultural Mentors are selected and then matched in small groups to foster relationships and plan activities for a small group of Emerging Leaders. Each TechWomen Cultural Mentor pair is designated a small group to collaboratively plan and facilitate events and activities for Emerging Leaders based on their interests. Past cultural activities have generally fallen into these categories:
- Outdoors: e.g. hiking, camping, picnics, visits to the beach and neighborhood walks.
- Professional Enrichment: e.g. networking events, speaker series, panels and young professional meetups.
- Arts: e.g. theater, dance and music performances, art galleries and museums.
- Culinary Excursions: e.g. tasting new cuisines, facilitating new culinary experiences.
What will a Cultural Mentor do?
Cultural Mentors will work with their group to plan and provide cultural immersion opportunities for Emerging Leaders. To facilitate this, the Cultural Mentors pairs prepare and facilitate 2-3 weeknight and weekend events and activities for small groups of Emerging Leaders throughout the program. Cultural Mentors are also encouraged to plan additional informal activities that support Emerging Leaders in gaining the most from their experience in the United States.
What is the time commitment?
Serving as a Cultural Mentor requires a considerable time commitment before and during the fall program, including planning and coordinating events with your group in September and October. Mentors agree to commit approximately 5 hours of preparation prior to the beginning of the program. Preparatory activities include the Cultural Mentor orientation, meetings with activity groups and individual coordination of activities.
