Six New Members join Big Sisters’ Board of Directors

Why is mentorship important to you, particularly mentorship for youth and young girls?

We all need people who help us see and know our own capacity. We all need people who believe in us. Mentorship is that frame that helps us see who we are and what we can become. 

The world bombards girls and young women with messages about who they are and who they should be. The value of great mentorship is its ability to reflect back to young people the best possible messages. The ones that uplift and support them as they become their best selves. 

I experience its value in the work I do in a university setting. Many of the young people I see struggling the most are the people who don’t have those connection points, the mentors to help guide them. The young people I see thriving are often the ones who who’ve experienced great mentorship, are drawn to positive relationships, know how to seek out strong leads, and have the confidence in their own capacity to succeed. 

Which of Big Sisters’ core values (We Champion Potential, Every Connection Counts, Showing Up Matters) resonates with you most, and why?

Every Connection Counts definitely resonates with me. No relationship is too small to be valuable. We are such social creatures and we thrive in those relationships. Sometimes the most unexpected and small connection can be an uplifting and powerful one. 

A quick example from my own life. My father passed away recently and amid the challenges, I received a note from a relatively new colleague whom I highly respect. It happens that he had also lost his father recently, and his simple reach out was incredibly comforting. It was and is a strong reminder to me of how powerful connections can be.

What is the most important lesson you have learned from your mentor(s)?

I had a high school teacher I really admired, who when I was 14, showed me the power of curiosity. He was humble and warm and asked the most insightful, thoughtful, curious questions. And he asked them in such a way that it was impossible not to be infected with that curiosity and sense of wonder. He applied that curiosity to everything and I learned to do that for school, for work, and for relationships, and the sense of excitement he sparked in me still shapes how I approach the world.

One of my favourite lessons was from a past boss. I was close to the start of my career and he was close to the end of his after almost 40 years of leadership. He had walked with considerable grace through a lot of challenges and his favourite adage, and now subsequently one of mine, is to ‘never say no on someone else’s behalf’. Essentially, never limit your own capacity, ideas, or inspiration because you think someone might say no. If I have a question, a hope, a plan, it’s always better to voice it with humility and excitement rather than presume it’s unanswerable, impossible, unachievable.