Our Mentorship Program

The Wisconsin Women’s Network Mentorship Program pairs women early in their careers or in college-level academic programs with established professional women across Wisconsin. This year-long mentorship fosters meaningful relationships that empower participants to gain new perspectives, grow professionally, and advance in their respective fields. Since its launch, the program has paired more than 250 mentees with experienced mentors, building lasting connections and expanding opportunities for Wisconsin women.

Applications Open for the 2027 Mentorship Program

We are now seeking mentees and mentors to participate in the 2027 Mentorship Program. This free, year-long program connects college students and early-career women with experienced professionals for one-on-one mentorship, professional development, networking, and community.

Participants meet with their mentor or mentee once a month and have opportunities throughout the year to connect with the broader mentorship community through in-person networking events in Madison and Milwaukee and virtual professional development sessions.

Application Deadline: Mentorship Program applications must be submitted through the online forms linked below by midnight on Friday, November 13.

HOW TO APPLy

Apply to be a mentee or mentor today by completing the relevant application form:

• Mentee Application

• Mentor Application

About the Mentorship Program

For Mentees

Early in your career, it can be hard to know who to turn to when you are making a big decision, navigating a challenge, or simply trying to figure out what comes next.

As a mentee, you’ll be paired with an experienced professional based on your career goals, interests, and the areas where you would most value support.

Your mentor can help you:

• Talk through career decisions and transitions

• Navigate challenges at work or as you enter the workforce

• Set goals and stay accountable to them

• Build confidence in your skills and decisions

• Strengthen your leadership and professional skills

• Expand your network and make new professional connections

• Gain perspective from someone who has navigated similar decisions

• Better understand your strengths, priorities, and what you want from your career

For Mentors

Mentorship is an opportunity to grow as a leader.

Our mentors come from a wide range of professions and backgrounds, but they share a willingness to invest in another woman’s growth by listening, asking thoughtful questions, sharing perspective, and helping her navigate the early stages of her career.

As a mentor, you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Strengthen your coaching, listening, and leadership skills

• Share lessons and experiences that can help someone else navigate her career

• Gain perspective from someone at a different career stage or with a different background

• Expand your own professional network

• Develop a meaningful relationship with an emerging professional

• Give back in a way that is personal, practical, and potentially lasting

You do not need to have all the answers. Strong mentors are often most valuable because they create space for reflection, offer perspective, and help mentees ask better questions.

The Mentorship Match

The program is designed to create relationships that have time to develop. Research on mentoring shows that longer mentoring relationships can provide greater benefits, which is why our program spans a full year.

In addition to one-on-one meetings, mentors and mentees become part of a broader community of women across Wisconsin. Through networking events and professional development sessions, participants can build relationships beyond their individual match and connect with women across industries, career stages, backgrounds, and communities.

The Wisconsin Women’s Network is committed to making mentorship accessible to women who represent all segments of Wisconsin. Past participants have included women of varying socioeconomic, educational, LGBTQ+, racial, ethnic, generational, and geographic backgrounds

Our goal is simple: to create opportunities for women to build meaningful relationships, learn from one another, and support each other’s growth.

You can learn more about the impact of the program in our Annual Reports.

Why mentoring?

For women, mentorship is especially powerful. Mentorship empowers women to grow professionally and develop the social capital necessary to advance in their careers. Over time, the impact of mentoring compounds, leading to more women in leadership roles and inspiring mentees to become mentors themselves.

As a Network of thoughtful women leaders, we understand the transformative power of connection and its critical role in broadening our perspectives and enabling greater achievement. Quality mentoring not only helps women realize their goals, but can also significantly strengthen communities, the economy, and our state.

Participant Testimonials

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

Yash enjeti

“I  was matched with my mentor, and I had a great partnership with her during my tenure at WWN. I enjoyed discussing several topics and she guided me not only on how to identify a mutual fit in an organization, especially after a career break, but also on several topics like salary negotiation and exploring leadership opportunities.

I am grateful for this opportunity to be a mentee through WWN’s program.”

Jaquilynn Huff

"One of the top reasons I am so passionate about the work that WWN does is that there is no paywall to mentorship. As a professional woman, transplant to the city, and who has worked primarily in non-profits that haven't had large Professional Development budgets, being able to have access to a high quality mentorship program has been critical to my success thus far. There are other organizations that provide mentorship, but not before paying hundreds of dollars that was ultimately a barrier for me.

During my time as a mentee, my mentor worked with me and connected me with other professional women who took the time to guide me through a proposal for a raise and elevated position within the company I was at at the time. Upon completion of the mentorship program, I had increased my salary and gained an additional territory. Being a part of WWN has expanded my network and has been a place of support, encouragement, and recognition of my leadership capabilities and overall success in the professional world."

Lisa Apps

“WWN’s Mentorship Program was an amazing experience. I have been in a career transition to a new field and my mentor was amazing. My mentor helped me see skills and opportunities that I could not see for myself.

This combined with the networking with my fellow mentees and their mentors provided an amazing opportunity to learn and grow in my personal and professional life.”

Jamie Herrmann

“I really enjoyed the mentorship program.  I didn't know what to expect when I signed up, and at the end of the program wished I would have signed up sooner.  It was great to get to learn from my mentor and have the opportunity to network with others with similar experiences. 

I am excited to take what I learned from my first year as a mentee and apply it as a mentor.”