Mentoring? Coaching?
At the Heart of Women’sVision Foundation

How about a unique “5K walk-talk” mentoring session on a Saturday morning in City Park?

Or—on the other end of the mentoring spectrum--a year-long executive program called the Women’sVision Leadership Institute, rich in both mentoring and professional coaching?

Or any of a number of other mentoring programs tailored to your specific needs or career stage—from women who have just entered the management ranks to senior level executives.

Mentoring and coaching are at the very heart of Women’sVision Foundation, the only professional organization in Colorado dedicated exclusively to advancing women in corporations.

New fall sessions on a wide range of mentoring programs offered exclusively from Women’sVision are enrolling now for this October and November.

Women’sVision Foundation is dedicated to women helping women, businesswomen reaching out to help other women achieve their career goals.

One of the principal pro-grams, the Women’sVision Leadership Institute, takes mentoring and coaching to a new—and highly successful--level.

Noted Christie Doherty, President, Women’sVision Foundation, “If a woman entering the program does not already have a mentor, she is required to select one.

“This begins a triangle mentoring/coaching process with a focus on leadership principles, with the participant benefiting from her personal mentor, a professional coach provided by our Institute, and even involving the participant’s corporate manager.

Does it work? Oh, does it ever! More than 80% of women in the Women’sVision Leadership program get promoted during or within six months of graduation of the program.

Currently, more than 100 women have graduated from the year-long, in-depth program.

“A wonderful thing about mentoring at Women’sVision Foundation is that there are so many types of mentoring, for any age, any industry, any level of experience,” added Ann Ayers, attorney, and Women’sVision member.

“What’s amazing is that there is something for every need and every walk of life, every career, every goal and every dream.”
It all began when Stephanie Allen, dreamweaver extraordinaire for Colorado women for the past 30 years and a 2006 inductee into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, brought together women business leaders back in 1997.

“It was apparent to me that one category of women which was not connected was corporate female executives. It really is lonely at the top and these women leaders needed a safe haven that could be provided only by other female leaders dealing with the same life and work issues.”

She brought about 20 of them together for a meeting and then a retreat. “Two things came out of that retreat; one that they wanted their own name—the WiseWomen Council, and second, that they wanted to reach out and bring up that next generation of women leaders.”
That outreach to up and coming women, named Women’s Link, began the legacy of mentoring that is central to Women’s Vision Foundation. Today, more than 700 women have graduated from Women’s Link, a six month program allowing up and coming leaders to tap into the wisdom of women executives.

Based on that success, not far behind was the launch of Managing for Impact, a three-month program from Women’sVision Foundation. Managing for Impact is targeted specifically to new managers and supervisors who want to accelerate their management training.
New mentoring and coaching programs constantly are on the drawing board at Women’sVsion. A new offering, coming this fall, is Mentoring Circles, offered by Women’sVision Foundation in conjunction with The Mentoring Company.

Mentoring Circles has been test marketed by Women’sVision for the past three years in its WiseWomen Council. It’s an example of peer mentoring—women at the same career level who have gone through or are going through the same experiences, along with a more senior catalyst mentor sharing their wisdom and experiences. Because of the rave reviews Mentoring Circles received from the WiseWomen Council, this peer mentoring program will be offered to executive and emerging leader women.

“We see more and more demand from women who want the valuable experience that mentoring relations foster,” Doherty continued.
More than 90% of the companies who send their “best and brightest” to Women’sVision for leadership development and mentoring, renew their memberships each year.

Those companies include around 35 of Colorado’s largest and most progressive firms, including Accenture, CH2M HILL, Ball Corporation, Colorado Business Bank, First Data Corporation, Hitachi Consulting, IBM, Key Bank, Level 3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, McDATA Corporation, Merrill Lynch, Qwest, and Xcel Energy.

“Our member companies send more and more of their high potential women to Women’sVision each year. They come back to us, because they believe in investing in their women and in the development of women leaders,” said Doherty.

“It’s a clear workforce strategy for the firms, because they see the value that women bring to their business and they also see the exceptional quality of programs Women’sVision delivers to their company.

“We’ve been fortunate to assemble a very diverse and exceptional group of mentors and coaches.
“They are simply outstanding professional women who are part of Women’sVision—exceptional women who are a great resource.
“One of the other unique advantages that Women’sVision offers is professional development and support outside your company,” she noted. “It’s a safe place to try out a new skill set or challenge—and then take that expertise back to your company.”

The supportive, nurturing culture of Women’sVision Foundation attracts a force of more than 120 volunteers each year.
“I see so many volunteers gaining leadership experience by organizing teams and managing our community projects, pulling together resources on an event or program, trying out new marketing approaches and managing budgets.

“It’s great experience, and many individual women sign up to volunteer to work on something outside their normal work world where they can give back and add value on an issue about which they are passionate,” said Doherty.

Ayers concurred, “Volunteering on event committees has been a phenomenal experience for me.

“On these committees, I work with women leaders who are at the vice president or senior vice president level and I’m able to witness their decision making processes and management style, and that in itself is another form of mentoring.”

And mentoring even can take the form of a “5K walk-talk” on a rainy Saturday morning in Denver’s City Park. In late August, more than 300 women laced up their walking shoes and hoisted their umbrellas for the Inaugural Oxygen’s Mentors Walk—Bringing Along the Next Generation in partnership with Women’sVision Foundation and Comcast.

The first Mentors Walk in Denver and only the second outside of New York, the walk was organized by a volunteer committee from Women’sVision Foundation and attracted an elite group of some of Colorado’s most successful business women who shared the secrets of their success with up and coming women on a 5K walk.
From mentoring sessions on a Saturday morning walk in the park to a unique and in-depth, year-long approach to mentoring/coaching, if you’re serious about mentoring that will grow your career, Women’sVision Foundation has it all. g g g

For more information, visit Women’sVision Foundation at www.womensvision.org or call 303-470-7576 x1.