Abstract
Starting a program of any type can be daunting. Doing so with little to no experience and resources may seem impossible. Yet the importance of this work and a shared vision brought us together to create a community for women to connect and thrive. We built the Athena Women’s Mentorship Program in autumn 2018 with the support of Athena, the professional women’s organization at the University of Idaho.
The intent of the Athena Mentorship Program is to promote and facilitate mentorship for women and/or female-identifying staff and faculty at all University of Idaho campuses. The program graduated its second cohort in December 2020 and launched its third cohort in January 2021, fully online.
The program follows a calendar year schedule, provides monthly formal gatherings and bi-weekly informal coffee chats for mentees with mentees and mentors with mentors, and requires that mentorship partners meet monthly based on their personal schedules. The year begins with a half-day retreat and concludes with a celebration certificate and pinning ceremony.
As the program facilitators, we have learned much during the first two years of the program’s life and have sought continuous improvement throughout, applying the lessons we have learned after each cohort to improve the next. Through this article, we wish to share our experiences with the goal of inspiring other institutions to forge ahead in their quest to develop women leaders within their organizations.