A Portlandia mentor is a professional woman who will partner with you for a few months to assist you in reaching your goals. The initial period of commitment is 3 months. This can be renewed for additional months if both the mentor and mentee want to continue.

She is not a therapist or a counselor.

She is a woman with connections in the professional community that you may not have. She may have networking and other business resources that you may want to tap into.

She will listen to you to find out what you want in a particular area, and then will do her best to assist you to get it. She may have the expertise to help you herself, and/or she may connect you with other resources in the community. Along the way you even may become friends.

There are two major areas of mentoring, assistance in finding employment or life skills.

The Life Skill areas are:
• Speaking and listening skills
• Exploring other careers
• Getting organized
• Setting goals and taking action
• Getting a raise/promotion
• Working with difficult people
• Nutrition and exercise
• Budgeting money
• Positive thinking/motivation

The contact time is generally less than 2 hours per month. Contact is often by telephone or email, not always in person. Each mentee completes a “Mentoring Action Plan” with specific assignments that she reports on to her mentor. The mentee is expected to do her ‘homework’ between sessions. It is vital that both the mentor and mentee keep their commitments as far as communicating with each other.

Having a mentor can be an extremely rewarding experience, if you are committed to the process. Mentoring is for women who are willing to be accountable to themselves and another caring person.