The University of New Mexico’s Mentoring Institute hosts its 10th Annual Mentoring Conference Oct. 23-27. Titled, “A Decade of Cultivating an Inclusive Mentoring Community: Developmental Networks for Innovation, Achievement, and Transformation,” the five-day conference will be held in the UNM Student Union Building.
The Mentoring Institute aims to host a broad constituency, including divisions of higher education, academic researchers, educators, community leaders, administrators, non-profit partners, government agencies, and other professionals.
The Annual Mentoring Conference features 12 keynote, plenary, and round table sessions, three pre-conference workshops (master sessions), one poster session, and more than 300 individual/panel presentations.
Registration is now open for this year’s conference.
Several of the Mentoring Conference’s plenary speakers and their topics, include:
- “Embracing Who We Are: The Significance of Narrative in Successful Mentoring and Inclusion,” Maggie Werner-Washburne - University of New Mexico - In thinking about decades of mentoring, Werner-Washburne has come to believe that mentoring success comes from the two-way conversation, a sharing of narratives between mentor and mentee. When we think of “what stuck” in what we gave a mentee and what they gave us, it is usually the story of each person that we remember. So, as mentors, it is incumbent on us to spend time remembering our personal narratives, pulling out the lessons from our experiences, and thinking more deeply about “our” story.
Each of us has a second, physical narrative. It is in the DNA in every cell that contains sequences from all our ancestors. Each of us is the physical embodiment of a successful human lineage, so, in a real sense, we ARE our family stories and the unknown stories of ancestors whose survival was key to our story today.
Tammy Allen - “Mentoring that Matters: Using the Power of Mentoring to Help Veteran Transitions,” Tammy Allen - University of South Florida - With an estimated average of 200,000 talented and experienced military members transitioning from the military to the civilian workplace each year, U.S. companies and organizations have responded in concerted fashion to assist with this transition and take advantage of this strong source of talent.
Veterans adjusting to the civilian workplace culture face a number of challenges such as different levels of uniformity and formality in language, dress, conduct, etc. Allen will be reviewing the features of mentoring programs designed to help veterans with this transition and their potential for impact for the veteran workforce population.
Ann Betz - “This is your Brain on Mentoring: The Neuroscience of Creating the Optimal State for Receptive Engagement,” Ann Betz - co-founder of BEabove Leadership and an international speaker and trainer - Betz served as the neuroscience consultant to The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) for many years, and provides neuroscience, leadership and coaching consulting to many other corporations and non-profits, including the International Coach Federation (ICF). Betz will explore how to more effectively put others’ brains in an open, receptive state where learning and change can occur.
In this fun and lively plenary session, neuroscience and human development expert Ann Betz will take you through current research on the neuroscience of connection and engagement, exploring how we can more effectively put others’ brains in an open, receptive state where learning and change can occur. She will share her insights about the intersection of coaching and mentoring, and how some of the simple, yet classic tools of professional coaching are highly useful in creating the kind of brain response where the client or mentee is at their most creative, open and capable.
To view the conference schedule, visit the Mentoring Institute’s overview. For a list of all speakers, visit Conference speakers.
Last year’s Mentoring conference attracted more than 600 mentoring researchers and practitioners with 86 percent of attendees either faculty, staff or students from higher education. Other attendees included professionals and practitioners from health care, government, non-profit, and business organizations.
The Mentoring Institute develops, coordinates and integrates research and training activities in mentoring best practices at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Through the application of instructional design standards, the Institute provides training and certification services for a diverse array of staff, faculty and students, in a centralized effort to recruit, train and develop qualified mentors for the University, the City of Albuquerque and the greater New Mexico community.
To register, visit Conference registration.
