Submitted by the WIT Service and Outreach Committee
At the end of July, 17 Stanford interns graduated from the Year Up program, which was marked by a heartfelt virtual commencement ceremony led by Year Up.
Cheering on the interns from the sidelines were mentors from the Stanford Women in Technology (WIT) community, who helped guide and support the interns since the WIT/Year Up Mentoring Program began in January.
Now, mentors are preparing to meet the next cohort of interns/mentees at the upcoming WIT/Year Up Mentoring Program kickoff event. This new cohort of the Mentoring Program will run from the end of August through January, 2021.
About the Program
The WIT/Year Up Mentoring Program was developed by the WIT Service and Outreach committee under the leadership of co-chairs Judy Zhang of VPTL and Ping Wei of University IT (UIT).
The program helps cultivate the talent entering the Stanford pipeline by providing the interns with mentors to help them along their Stanford journey. It also demonstrates women as mentors and leaders in our IT community. Shifting the expectations and perceptions of younger generations so they see women in leadership is a building block toward our goal of closing the gender gap and building the talent pipeline.
Supporting Mentees Through Unexpected Circumstances
The January cohort of mentors and mentees faced a myriad of unexpected challenges that came along with shelter-in-place and working remotely. But, they rose to the challenge and demonstrated incredible agility. The WIT mentors were there to help the interns still get the most out of their time at Stanford, despite the extraordinary circumstances.
“Having support from this group during these uncertain times was very helpful,” said mentee Tanniae Enriquez. “The workshops and meetings we had were such a great help and definitely a learning experience. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity.”
Tanniae went on to thank her mentor, Virginia Ibarra from UIT. She shared that Virginia “was an amazing and supportive mentor” particularly noting the time that Virginia took to help her develop and move towards her goals.
“Thank you for believing in the Year Up program and in us interns,” Tanniae said.
We are overjoyed with Tanniae and the other mentees’ positive experiences and motivated to ensure the interns in the next cohort are offered the same guidance, support, and encouragement through the WIT/Year Up Mentoring Program.
Learn More and Get Involved
If you would like to learn more about the WIT/Year Up Mentoring Program, visit our website.
Please note that all mentor spots are filled for the current cohort. If you are interested in becoming a WIT/Year Up mentor in the future, please stay tuned. We’ll begin recruiting mentors for the January 2021 cohort in late fall.
