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Nurturing
through
Mentoring
When forensic accountant
Lourdes Rodriguez wanted
to leave her job at a
Miami company for a
manager position at a
global firm, she
consulted the person you
would least expect, her
boss. “One of the key
factors that led me to
seek guidance from John
was his complete
interest in my career,
as well as personal life
satisfaction,” says
Rodriguez. Although he
didn’t want to lose her
as an employee, John J.
Schoendorf helped
Rodriguez weigh the pros
and cons objectively so
she could make the best
decision. “One of the
toughest things I had to
do was to counsel her
that she should make the
move,” said Schoendorf.
Rodriguez opted for the
opportunity with the Big
Four accounting firm,
and even though she is
no longer Schoendorf’s
employee, he is now her
cross mentor—a
professional who mentors
an individual’s career
from outside a mentee’s
place of employment.
Rodriguez, who has risen
to the post of forensic
director and now works
in New York City, claims
her career has benefited
from cross-mentoring.
“It gives you a
different and objective
perspective from someone
outside your
organization and
potentially industry…It
encourages a mentee to
be more candid because
the mentor is
independent from the
organization,” says
Rodriguez. |
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Lourdes
Rodriguez |
John J.
Schoendorf |
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Although many companies
have in-house mentorship
programs that pair entry-level
workers with top-level
executives, Schoendorf
and Rodriguez agree that
the best mentor/mentee
relationships are
organic. “I guess I
became her mentor kind
of naturally. I have
always enjoyed helping
young, talented people
grow by sharing ideas
and ways to accomplish
their goals.” says
Schoendorf. Rodriguez
adds, “The best mentor/mentee
relationships are the
ones that are developed
over time and not
assigned.”
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The ‘Si,
Se
Puede’
mentoring
group |
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(Left)
Ofelia
Guerra
and
Melissa
Louise
Garcia |
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After graduating from
the University of
Florida’s Fischer School
of Accounting,
Rodriguez’s mentors
helped her overcome many
challenges on the way to
the top of the
accounting industry.
However, the earliest
and most significant
role model in
Rodriguez’s life was a
Latina. Rodriguez’s mom
“grew up with very
little and sought
freedom by moving to
Miami from Cuba in the
late 60s. She struggled
to maintain a sound
household for my brother
and me, as a single
mother,” says Rodriguez.
But her mother always
“stressed the importance
of education and how it
would help me be an
independent woman and
succeed in life.”
In addition to the
support of her family,
Rodriguez counted on
Schoendorf and other
mentors to guide her
through stressful client
situations, issues with
co-workers and attaining
a healthy work/life
balance. “Mentors have
been extremely
influential in my career…
I cannot stress how
important a mentor/mentee
relationship is for a
Latina,” she says.
Schoendorf on the other
hand, who has mentored
several Latinas
including Rodriguez,
offers these words of
wisdom: “Don’t let your
upbringing and exposure
to the male Latino
mantra keep you from
spreading your wings,
don’t think there is
anything wrong with
using warmness and
femininity to accomplish
goals [and] use your
sensitivity to people as
a way of understanding
subordinates, equals and
supervisors, so you can
better manage those
relationships to your
advantage.”
At
State Farm’s corporate
headquarters in
Bloomington, Illinois
however, they haven’t
crossed their mentoring
philosophy, they have
flipped it. Three years
ago, Barbara Cowden,
executive vice president
and chairman’s council
member, began a reverse
mentoring program which
teams Latino employees
with senior level
leadership. The goal is
to give the company’s
non-Latino leaders a
first-hand account of
the Latino experience.
“You have people that
don’t necessarily have a
high ranking in the
organization, but are
Latinos who are very
engaged and very
knowledgeable about the
Hispanic community,”
says Adriana Comellas-Macretti,
director in corporate at
State Farm Insurance
Company, founding member
and former president of
the company’s Hispanic
Employee Resource Group
(HERO).
Comellas-Macretti says
the exchange gives the
mentees a better
understanding of the
marketing, branding and
personal needs of the
Latino community,
information she’s passed
on to State Farm’s vice
chair, treasurer and CFO,
Michael Tipsord. “The
beauty of having this
mentoring relationship
is that everybody parks
their titles at the door
when they have these
conversations. They’re
talking as people. It’s
not the CFO talking to
me as a director, but
it’s Adriana and Mike
having a conversation…we
can have honest dialogue
without me having to be
worried about how it’s
going to hurt my career…It’s
very much about us
growing as people,” she
says.
While Rodriguez is a
strong advocate of
cross-company, as well
as cross-cultural
mentorship, Ofelia
Guerra, assistant vice
president for Citigroup,
believes the best
mentors share their
mentees’ backgrounds.
Through all these years
she has learned that
sometimes straight-forward
mentoring can have the
strongest effect on the
young.
As
a volunteer for MANA’s
Hermanitas’ program in
Chicago, Guerra counsels
those she knows best,
young Latinas. “In order
to make the best
connection with someone
you should be in a
position to relate as
much as possible,” says
Guerra. ”The more you
have in common, the
better the connection is
going to be.”
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The ‘Si,
Se
Puede’
mentoring
group |
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Adriana
Comellas-Macretti,
director
in
corporate
at State
Farm
Insurance
Company |
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Guerra’s five mentees
hail from Chicago’s
Pilsen neighborhood,
which is predominantly
Mexican and not as
economically as
advantaged as other
parts of the Windy City.
“In the Latino community
there aren’t many people
who you can find who
have gone to college,
especially in Pilsen…I
was extremely excited to
have a Latina mentor who
went to college and is
doing great things for
herself and others,”
says Mexican-American
Melissa Louise Gracia,
one of Guerra’s mentees.
“Ofelia is one of the
most incredible persons
I have ever met. She
helped me so much during
my senior year.”
With Guerra’s guidance,
18-year-old Gracia
applied and was accepted
to Hillary Wellesley
College. “I was
overwhelmed with the
stress of filling out
college applications,
writing essays, while
keeping my grades up to
par. Whenever I spoke to
[Ofelia] I always felt
this sense of relief.
She knew how to calm me
down. She also
encouraged me to apply
to colleges that I
wanted to and not let
anyone else’s opinions
deter me from what my
goals are,” says Gracia,
the first person in her
family to attend college.
Guerra says the type of
advice she gave Gracia,
as well as her other
mentees, although
personalized, had a
recurring theme, “make
school a priority and
choose a field that will
make [you] happy. And
most importantly, follow
your dreams.”
Guerra’s and Gracia’s
relationship exemplifies
Hermanitas’ goal—to
strengthen leadership
skills and broaden
mentees’ horizons. The
program contains a
strong educational
component, but Guerra
claims the key to its
success is the fun
factor.
The mentor and mentees
bond through a host of
activities, from
attending a White Sox’s
game to taking salsa
lessons to volunteering
at the Chicago Latino
Film Festival. Guerra
says the informal
excursions create an
atmosphere where mentees
feel “less restricted in
what they do and say and
feel more comfortable
asking questions.”
Where Hermanitas’
focuses on placing
mentees on a college-bound
track, the “Si, Se
Puede” (Yes, You Can)
mentoring program
ensures Latino students
stay on the high school
diploma path. The
program, co-founded by
Puerto Rican-born
Madeleine Lanza-Giraldi,
targets first-year
students at Long Island,
New York’s Brentwood
Freshman Center. “We
work with the ‘middle of
the road’, quiet, doing
OK, don’t get into
trouble student that
with guidance and
assistance can go from a
C+ to a B or an A,” says
Lanza-Giraldi. As an
adjunct professor at
Five Towns College and
SUNY Farmingdale with
over 30 years of
marketing experience,
she dedicates much of
her free time to
mentoring and recruiting
other Latino
professionals to join
her mission, keeping
Latinos in school until
graduation.
On
a national level, 22.1
percent of Hispanics
students drop out of
high school, as
documented by the U.S.
Department of Education
National Center for
Education Statistics in
2006. The odds are
better for the students
participating in the “Si
Se Puede” mentoring
program. “At Brentwood
the number of students
dropping out is 14
percent. That is not
acceptable,” says Lanza-Giraldi.
But with mentoring, she
believes Latinos can get
closer to solving the
drop out dilemma.
“Together we can make a
better world and it is
done one person at a
time, that is what
mentoring is all about,”
she says.
An
optimistic sentiment
echoed by mentees,
mentors and numbers.
According to a 2005
survey conducted by the
Corporation for National
and Community Service,
96 percent of volunteers
engaged in mentoring
would recommend
mentoring to others. The
survey also found that
would-be mentors are
motivated by a desire to
help young people
succeed (82%) and to
make a difference in
someone’s life (76%).
“When you have a good
mentoring situation, the
mentor can learn from
the mentee. It works
both ways if the mentor
is willing to listen,”
says Schoendorf.
Rodriguez in turn, has
gone on to guide others.
“I have now become a
mentor to professionals
in my firm and have
received feedback from
them and it confirms
what a mutually
beneficial relationship
it can be for both
participants,” says
Rodriguez.
So
whether you seek to
learn or aspire to teach,
mentoring could not only
help a young Latino
avoid the pitfall of
becoming a high school
drop out, you could
inspire someone to reach
their dreams, or someone
can push you towards
yours.
By
Claudia Forestieri |
