Our Mentorship Program

Interested in joining our Mentorship Program as a mentor or mentee?

The application period for the 2024 Mentorship Program is now closed. Applications for the 2025 Mentorship Program will open in September. Please follow us on Facebook and sign up for our email updates to catch announcements about the next application period!

Interested in learning more about our Mentorship Program?

The goal of the Wisconsin Women’s Network Mentorship Program is simple: we want to give women the opportunity to cultivate meaningful relationships with strong, inspirational role models throughout Wisconsin.

Our mentors come from a variety of professions and backgrounds, all uniting under the same cause–helping women succeed. They dedicate their valuable time to meet with mentees, listen, ask the tough questions, and provide ideas for resources needed to achieve their goals.

We match these supportive mentors with women who are completing their studies or early in their careers to help women navigate transitions, tackle big decisions, or simply learn more about themselves so they can bring authenticity to their work and lives. Our mentors and mentees are carefully paired together, based on career aspirations and personal interests, so that mentees can stand on the shoulders of their mentors, and build deep relationships that we hope last well past the program.

Because studies show that the longer the mentoring relationship, the more benefits that mentees receive, our program lasts for an entire year. This gives our mentees the opportunity to really get to know their mentor and explore their professional development. If you'd like to read more about what we accomplished in recent years, check out our annual reports. Thank you to Alliant Energy and Widen Family Foundation for your support of this program.

Why mentoring?

Studies show that individuals who have a mentor are more confident in their academic abilities. A recent analysis of more than 73 independent mentoring programs found that mentoring results in positive outcomes across social, emotional, behavioral and academic areas of development. 

Quality mentoring can help young women not only achieve their dreams, but can also significantly strengthen communities, the economy and our state. And that’s what we need in Wisconsin.

We asked some of our recent mentors and mentees about the Mentorship Program. Here’s what they had to say.

Laurel Kordyban, Mentee

"Women supporting women is the best of the best. In the professional world, where sexism continues to be a prevalent issue faced by women throughout all stages of their professional lives, being able to hear about and learn from the experience of a powerful, successful, and independent mentor is so valuable for a college woman. After being a part of the Mentorship Program, I believed so strongly in the mission of the program that I applied to be a feminist mentor for middle school girls, through the UW-Campus Women's Center."

Deborah Thompson, MENTOR

“One of the most important things that I’ve learned is a reinforcement of what I’ve always read in literature, which is that men do a really good job of mentoring each other, either formally or informally. And women? Not so much. And I think this experience in the WWN program really [taught] me how important it is that, as a woman, I keep mentoring those around me. I hope I get to keep doing it for a long, long time!”

Dana Hoffmann, MENTor

"It’s uplifting to see another generation of young women who want to make a difference in the world, and be able to share some of my insights to assist them in that endeavor."

Paige ScobeE, MENTEE

"My mentor not only helped me get an internship and full time job, but also provided me with advice and support to get through tough situations at work, school and home. I learned so much in my year in the mentorship program and gained a lifelong mentor."

Mackenzie Greisch, MENTEE

"Through the mentorship program, Deborah managed to help me navigate both my professional development and personal growth over a cup of coffee and a shared love of brunch, and I am happy to say that we continue that connection today—for that, I am forever grateful to the Wisconsin Women's Network."