Girls to get mentoring for IWD
ON Saturday, March 9, in recognition of International Women’s Day, 50 mentees will be paired with mentors in their areas of study during a mentoring walk at Emancipation Park as part of Vital Voices Global Mentoring.
Some of the mentors this year include Dr Terry Karelle-Reid, Marva Bernard, Shelly-Ann Weeks, Yaneek Page, and others. The mentees will include fifth, sixth form and university students who are on their educational journey for the working world.
This is the third year for this mentorship walk for the Jamaican chapter.
The Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walks are an opportunity to highlight the importance of women’s leadership, and to accelerate the impact of women leaders through mentoring.
Organised by outstanding local leaders who are key members of the Vital Voices Global Leadership Network, the annual Mentoring Walk brings together established women leaders and emerging women leaders to walk together in their community. As they walk, they discuss their professional challenges and successes and establish a mentoring relationship in which the seasoned leader guides, advises and supports her peer. These walks take place on the same day in 62 countries with a historic 174 walks.
The benefits of women’s mentorship are numerous. It establishes camaraderie, creates gender-friendly environments, promotes a stronger environment for women’s success, and expands horizons for further personal growth.
The non-profit organisation Vital Voices Global Partnership grew out of the US government’s successful Vital Voices Democracy Initiative. The Vital Voices Democracy Initiative was established in 1997 by then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright after the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing to promote the advancement of women as a US foreign policy goal.
The overwhelmingly positive response to the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative led to the creation of Vital Voices Global Partnership as a non-profit NGO in June 2000. Vital Voices is now continuing the work of advancing women’s economic, political and social status around the world, by providing skills, networking and other support to women around the world, whether they are working to increase women’s political participation in Latin America or to promote women’s entrepreneurship in the Middle East.
