By: Luis Rivera
As part of Connecticut Children’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are launching a new mentoring program as a pilot program to ensure team members who reside in Hartford have the support they need to succeed in their positions and advance their careers within our organization. We hope the program will help empower participating team members to be the best they can be in service to our mission and each other.
Why Mentoring Matters
Successful workplace mentoring programs have been shown to help recruit and retain team members from all backgrounds. They also help to promote diversity in leadership within organizations. At Connecticut Children’s, the goal of our mentoring program is to increase opportunities for mentees to advance their careers within our organization and provide leadership opportunities for mentors.
Connecticut Children’s partnered with the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut to create the pilot program, which is funded by a grant from Metro Hartford Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (MACH). The inaugural cohort consists of three mentors and three mentees from Connecticut Children’s food services, environmental services and security departments. The program launched with a virtual kickoff meeting in January where participants learned about the importance of mentoring from the program’s organizers and funder. They also spent time getting to know each other before being paired together based on their interests and goals.
Going forward, mentors will participate in a training session on effective mentoring led by Capital Workforce Partners. The pairs will meet monthly during the yearlong program and each participant will receive a stipend for their participation. All of the mentees are Hartford residents who are people of color, at the request of the funder. An advisory group will also meet monthly to guide the program.
Future Mentoring Opportunities
At the end of the yearlong pilot program, mentors and mentees will complete surveys so organizers can assess the effectiveness of the mentoring program. If the pilot program is successful, new cohorts will be offered every year. We hope to expand the number of participants in future cohorts as well as the departments included in the program.
We hope this program helps Connecticut Children’s recruit and retain workers who live in the communities we serve. We are excited to get the program started and look forward to all of the doors it will open for our dedicated team members.