Celebrating women in mentorship and the importance of mentoring was the focus of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island’s (WFRI) annual Women’s History Month discussion with U.S. Senator Jack Reed. Monday’s discussion, which took place at the Cranston Public Library, featured several panelists who have worked to uplift and mentor fellow women and girls, and provided opportunities for those in attendance to connect with organizations those panelists are part of.

Panelists included Channavy Chhay and Upine Minyvong, executive director and program manager at the Center for Southeast Asians; Kristina Byrne and Selina from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island and Tiffany Jimenez and Sarah Murray from the Women’s Policy Institute, a leadership program run by the WFRI. The WFRI’s Special Project Manager, Beth Thompson, moderated this panel with Reed.

“Mentoring fosters learning. It fosters a learning mindset,” WFRI’s CEO Kelly Nevins said in opening remarks when introducing the panel. “And it’s not just for the mentee. It is a win-win relationship where both the mentor and the mentee get something out of it. Mentoring builds relationships, it develops skills, it increases confidence, it enhances leadership abilities, it fosters diversity, and it increases the chance of success both for the mentee and the mentor.”

Nevins also cited a study by MyBioSource that said that 31% of women in STEM who had been surveyed and had a female mentor were promoted in the year previous compared to 21% who were promoted and didn’t.

During this panel, topics and questions that came up included why they wanted to become a mentor and/or mentee, ways to develop strong mentoring relationships, barriers mentors and mentees may face and how mentoring infrastructure in the state can be further improved.

“I think it’s good for young people to have older people that are not their families, not their parents, not their teachers that are in spaces to give them advice, show support, do fun things,” said Byrne, who is Selina’s mentor through the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island program, when asked about what made her want to become a mentor. “So, I really enjoyed being a basketball coach and serving in that capacity and then when I had this opportunity, I took it. I’m so thankful for it. It’s been about three and a half years.”

“I always wanted to have an older sibling, specifically an older sister because the idea always appealed to me and it sounds cool,” Selina said. “My mom, she found out about the program because she used to donate to BBSRI and then I was connected to Kristina and we bonded instantly. I found exactly what I’d always wanted, which was an older sister.”

Jimenez, who currently works as a special projects manager for Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos and has been both a mentee and mentor, mentioned the importance of perspective when talking about her and Murray’s mentor-mentee relationship.

She said, “Anyone can share a perspective. You can pull different parts and whatever you need or whatever you don’t need and pretty much anything from anyone’s perspective in the world.”

Murray, a school committee member in Millbury, Massachusetts, and mentee of Jimenez’s shared a similar sentiment, adding, “It really has been an amazing match. We work together really nicely. We complement each other’s – where we are in our lives, in our professional careers, and it has been a really great step in whatever we’re going with next.”

Minyvong, when answering a memorable moment as a mentee that remains with her, emphasized how crucial it is for a mentee to be able to feel confident enough to talk to their mentor and open up when they feel vulnerable.

“There’s been many times where I’ve been to Channavy’s office and tears are coming down my face and she would just embrace that and talk to me,” Minyvong said. “For me, I lost my mother at a very young age, so to be able to have somebody like Channavy, to run to her when there’s something going on personally is very powerful for me.”

On the topic of barriers the panelists have encountered as a mentee or mentor, Byrne, while not facing any personally, mentioned that she thinks maybe for some people a potential barrier “would be that people think they have to be some extraordinary human to mentor others, and that’s just not the case”

One barrier mentioned by Minyvong was “time.”

“I feel like as a mentee-mentor, we’re so wrapped up in our lives, our careers, that it’s hard to find that time to set aside to either be mentored or to be a mentor,” added Minyvong.

A barrier that Chhay mentioned was succession planning. For Jimenez, she recalled that a barrier when trying to find mentorship was not knowing where to look until she found out about the Women’s Policy Institute.

Murray echoed the barrier of dedicating time that Minyvong mentioned, saying in part, “Time is really the hardest part.”

Toward the end of this panel, the topic of finding ways to connect with one’s mentor or mentee was discussed.

“I’d say definitely spending a lot of time with the person that you’re with, either your mentor, your mentee, anybody,” Selina said. “As you spend time with the person, you get to know them more, they start to mention things that they have common interests with. And if you have interests in the same thing, then definitely work on that. Spend a lot of time with them doing that specific thing.”

Chhay said commonality “is great” and also emphasized the importance for people to challenge themselves to “think big and bold.”

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, how you got here,” Chhay said. “When we talk about equality. We have to challenge ourselves. You could have someone that you have no idea where they came from around the world, but getting the chance to sit across [from] them, having that cup of tea, to have a dialogue that you will benefit from so greatly rather than choosing an individual that you already know who they are, which is great, but you’re commonality doesn’t expand your horizon.”

After the panel, Reed told the Herald his takeaways from this discussion.

“It was an extraordinary event,” Reed said. “It shows the talent we have, but it also shows the power of mentorship. Both the mentor and the mentee can learn a great deal from each other, so it’s just a pathway to success, so we should do more of it, encourage more of it and support it.”

Reed's involvement with holding these types of discussions during Women’s History Month has been going on “for over a decade” according to Ben Craig, his deputy press secretary.

“The events generally echo the national theme for Women’s History Month, but with a Rhode Island spin,” Craig added.

Craig also said that past forums have focused on topics such as women in public service, women as storytellers, celebrating women in science, and more.

Nevins, who has been with WFRI since 2016, shared similar takeaways as Reed, saying mentoring is “a great way to build your skills, to continue being a leader, and just everybody benefits.”

The organization’s overall goal is to close the gender, wage, wealth, health and power gaps in Rhode Island. Nevins said WFRI works to achieve that goal “through research, advocacy, grant-making and leadership development.”