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(12/30/2006) Local Businesswomen Learn from the Experiences of Others

By Tracy Carbasho

Mentoring has become a way of life for many successful businesswomen in Pittsburgh.

“I’ve sought out various types of mentors in my life to achieve personal and professional goals,” said Kathleen Monkelis, vice president and relationship manager in the Private Client Group at National City Bank, Downtown. “I’m thankful for the mentors that have taken the time to help me, and I feel a responsibility to do the same for others.”

She is serving as a volunteer for Strong Women, Strong Girls, a not-for-profit, Boston-based organization that supports the leadership and self-esteem development of women and girls. She became involved with the SWSG program through Leadership Pittsburgh, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing leaders to serve southwestern Pennsylvania. Leadership Pittsburgh partnered with SWSG last November by asking local businesswomen to mentor students at Carnegie Mellon University.

As a 2005 graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh, Monkelis was asked to volunteer and is currently mentoring Adwoa Darko, a junior from Ghana who is majoring in chemistry. “I have worked in the financial industry for over nine years and can help my mentee with personal financial advice and career-building skills, such as strengthening her resume or obtaining an internship,” Monkelis said.

The SWSG program develops cycles of mutual empowerment for women and girls by creating mentor-to-mentor relationships. For example, an accomplished businesswoman mentors a college student, and that student, in turn, mentors a girl in elementary school.

The National Association of Women Business Owners, which has a local chapter on the North Shore, underwrites a mentoring program called Girls Going Places. The program is sponsored by Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America in New York City.

Geared toward girls ages 12 to 18, the program includes a one-day conference that is held in various cities across the country.

Joanne Quinn-Smith, president of the Pittsburgh chapter of NAWBO, said 2007 is the first year the conference has been held in the local area. More than 100 girls from local schools will have an opportunity to learn from professional businesswomen during the March 6 entrepreneurship conference at Chatham University.

“We contact the guidance counselors at local schools, and they pick girls who are interested in the entrepreneurial experience,” Quinn-Smith said. “One of my visions even before I became NAWBO president was to create a paradigm shift with our youth, especially young women.”

She learned about the Girls Going Places program during a NAWBO conference in Florida in 2004. After two years of research to gauge local interest, she is pleased to be able to hold a conference in Pittsburgh.

“Many young girls see their mothers working hard at a job and raising a family. They need to know that’s a worthwhile vocation, but they also have options. They can become business owners, be their own boss, create wealth and have a future beyond their job,” Quinn-Smith said. “I would like to see more women business owners step up to the plate and become mentors.”

Joyce Query, president and CEO of i-squared, a content management firm on the North Shore, understands the importance of helping other women. She has benefited from the business development program offered by PowerLink, a nonprofit organization in Mount Washington that offers free advice from business professionals who volunteer to serve on either a six-month or a one-year advisory panel specifically for a company.

Query had a PowerLink advisory panel helping her when she needed help to grow her business in 1992 and again in 1998. “Mentoring helps you avoid making the same mistakes that someone else has already experienced, so the learning curve is shorter,” Query said.

Debbie Moses, executive director of PowerLink, facilitates mentoring in her capacity as executive director.

“Women have made great strides in business during the last few decades, but I don’t think we have achieved our full potential,” Moses said. “More mentoring needs to occur, and the most beneficial thing women can do for their businesses is to avail themselves of all of the advice and information available around them.”

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