Carol Muller Founder, President and CEO

MentorNet Mission:

To further the progress of women and others underrepresented in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring network, and

To advance individuals and society, and enhance engineering and related sciences, by promoting a diversified, expanded and talented global workforce.

MentorNet works with corporations, government labs, professional societies, and institutions of higher education to address the need to develop tomorrow's technical talent. As a nonprofit (501(c)(3)) internet organization, MentorNet has developed technology-based systems and programs to match thousands of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs in engineering and related sciences in one-on-one e-mentoring relationships with scientific and technical professionals.

These mentorships help students learn more about career opportunities in their fields of interest, about how what they are learning in class and labs relates to applications and "real world" situations, about how people with backgrounds in engineering and science engage in their work and lives on a daily basis. Through structured, email-based conversations, protégés (undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty) gain valuable information, confidence, increased interest, and the development of early professional networks. Protégés report they especially value the input of an "objective" and more experienced person with whom they can explore questions, decisions, and opportunities separate from the resources available to them on campus. Mentors also report a great deal of learning from these relationships, including increased skills, new information and relationships, and new perspectives on their work. The use of email enables the participation of busy professionals and students alike, whose time and schedules might not otherwise allow these mentoring relationships to develop and thrive.

MentorNet works with a partnership of organizations -- currently more than 100 colleges and universities spread across the U.S. and a few outside the U.S. (see http://www.mentornet.net/Partners/Campuses/currentcampuses.aspx for a list), a number of different corporations and government labs (see http://www.mentornet.net/Partners/Sponsors.aspx), and various professional societies and other nonprofit organizations. These organizations provide financial support for MentorNet, and also serve to connect our services to their constituents -- engineering and science students and/or professionals.

Research-based and regularly evaluated, MentorNet's One-on-One program has been recognized with national awards, and has matched more than 20,000 pairs of mentors and protégés since our web site first opened in 1998. Program evaluation reports are readily available on our web site, as are stories from individual protégés and mentors (see http://www.mentornet.net/Documents/Files/MentorNet_panel_program.pdf).

Priorities for coming year:

1. Review model of financial support for MentorNet operations toward achieving a sustainable future.
2. Build additional partnerships with organizations with congruent interests and mission.
3. Increase participation in MentorNet's community and One-on-One program.
4. Continue to improve and add to programs and features based on expressed interests of partnering organizations and needs of individual program participants.

www.MentorNet.net

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