Mentors and Mentees Encouraged to Apply for The Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program
Boulder, CO (September 4, 2019) – Camber Outdoors, the hub for advancing workplace equity in the active-outdoor industries through career opportunities, leadership and entrepreneurship, announces that applications for The Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program are now open. Mentees are encouraged to apply before the deadline of October 8, 2019.
Since its inception in 2014, 150 women have participated as mentees in The Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program, a cross-company, cross-industry mentoring initiative in the active-outdoor industries that facilitates one-on-one learning and leadership development between director/manager-level and director/executive-level women.
In a typical year, 25-35% of these women received promotions within a year of completing the program. More than 33% are now at Director level and above. 2018 mentees came from companies such as Columbia, Smartwool, Marmot, Outside Magazine, Trek Bicycle, REI Co-Op and more.
“The relationships between mentors and mentees in the workforce make an invaluable difference,” says Sasha McGhee, Program Manager for Camber Outdoors. “A McKinsey & Co. study reported that companies with greater leadership diversity perform better but women, especially women of color, remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership teams. There aren’t as many mentors or role models and the paths toward executive-level leadership are limited – we plan to change that.”
The professional mentoring program matches high-potential managers and director-level women with director and VP-level women across the active- outdoor industries to participate in a nine-month mentoring relationship to cultivate leadership skills required for more senior-level positions in our competitive field. With mentorship, the mentees gain valuable insights into the challenges they will likely face but also a strong ally in their efforts to advance their careers in the active-outdoor industries.
“Being a mentor provides me a reason to step back from my day-to-day and reflect on underlying experiences and dynamics. It’s given me a way to help someone else benefit from my experiences and inspires me to keep learning. I enjoy the comradery of mentorship and how being part of a formal mentoring relationship opens the door for honest conversation, humility and a partnership that we both benefit from.” – Linda Balfour, VP of Marketing at Superfeet.
The Camber Outdoors program was recently renamed the Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program, to honor the life and legacy of Camber Outdoors’ co-founder, Ann Amelia Krcik. Ann believed the broad inclusion of individuals and industry leaders drove smart and effective business decisions. Through her mentoring, she helped new and diverse voices to be heard.
Click HERE to understand more about the program, learn about requirements and to applybefore October 8th.
To support the mentoring program through a donation, please visit the Ann Krcik Advocacy Fund page.
For further questions or for the opportunity to serve as a mentor, please contact: Sasha McGhee at sasha.mcghee@camberoutdoors.
About Camber Outdoors
Founded in 1996, Camber Outdoors is the hub for advancing career opportunities, leadership and entrepreneurship to inspire an outdoors, truly for everyone. Envisioning a future of “Everyone’s Outdoors”, it is a national organization dedicated to achieving equity for all women and underrepresented communities in the workplace of the active-outdoors industries, through innovative and thought-leading programming and initiatives, including industry keynotes, the CEO Outdoor Equity Pledge, Pitchfest, Camber Exchanges, and a cross-industry/company Mentoring Program. Over 200 corporate and 7,500 individual members support equity through Camber Outdoors.
To learn more about Camber Outdoors please visit camberoutdoors.org and follow them on social media.
