Contributors: Mentoring Committee Marketing and Communication (McMc) Team
The summer always serves as an exciting beginning to the mentoring year. The typical cycle for the NORDP mentoring year runs from July to June for the mentoring dyad and mentoring cohort participants. The Mentoring Committee, specifically the Match Team and the Mentoring Leadership Team, work in May and June to make adjustments to the WisdomShare platform (more on that in a moment), prepare the application window, and make the matches and verify that good matches are being made.
On June 25, the Mentoring Committee sponsored the 2024 Mentor Program Orientation, introducing this year’s participants to the program and featuring one of the 2024 NORDP Mentoring Award recipients, Paula Carney. Breakouts based on participant’s role as a mentor or a mentee either in a dyad or a cohort, allowed everyone to learn more about what to expect in the year to come.
WisdomShare is a tool that NORDP has purchased to easily and effectively match mentors and mentees. The tool can match individuals or groups based on several criteria such as job level, years in the RD field, preference for dyad or cohort format, and other matching preferences. WisdomShare’s algorithm scores matches, but the Match Team and other mentoring committee volunteers still go through each dyad and cohort with an eye on the human element to make sure the best matches are made.
Using this year’s WisdomShare mentor- and mentee-profiles, the Match Team spent approximately 11 hours to process and finalize the matching. Overall, we have 197 NORDP members participating in this year’s Mentor Program. We matched 91 unique matches — 57 dyad pairs and 34 cohort groups, a slight increase compared to 56 dyad pairs and 31 cohort groups in 2023. The Mentoring Committee is especially excited for another year of mentoring cohorts after two successful years. Mentoring cohorts match three mentees to one mentor and they lead peer-mentoring discussions throughout the year. Many thanks to the 73 brave individuals who volunteered to be a Mentor either in a dyad or cohort this year!
Advice for new mentors and mentees (matched participants):
- Use the WisdomShare “Learning” tab to help you figure out where to begin.
- Log into WisdomShare for your mentor/mentee’s contact information, messaging, and for a suggested milestones list.
- Go to the WisdomShare Dashboard to find active Cohort and Peer Mentoring Groups (PMGs) and to join the PMGs you are interested in.
- If your mentor/mentee has not reached out to you yet, be the first to contact them! There is no right or wrong way to connect to RD peers.
- Look out for future McHuddles – informal gatherings hosted by NORDP Mentoring Committee facilitators and an opportunity to share ideas, ask questions, and collectively learn from other mentees/mentors in breakout sessions.
- Contact the Mentoring Committee (mentorprogram@nordp.org) if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
The McMc team is always looking for mentoring dyads and cohorts to profile in a blog post. If you were part of a 2023-24 mentoring dyads and cohorts and are willing to share your experience, contact the McMc team through mentorprogram@nordp.org.
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