PSO Mentorship Excellence Program
2025 Applications are Closed
Applications for our second cohort are open from February 3rd to March 3rd, 2025.
A 91探花email is required to access the following forms:
- Apply to be a mentee: .
- Apply to be a mentor: 听.
A preview of the application questions is available using the following links:
Applications are due on 03/03/2025 at 11:59 pm. For questions, please reach out to staffmentorship@uw.edu.
The program timeline for our second cohort is from June 2025 through November 2025.
All Professional Staff, regardless of race or ethnicity, within the 91探花Tri-Campus are welcome to apply.
Goals:
- M 鈥� Make new connections and meet other colleagues
- E 鈥� Empower professional staff
- N 鈥� Network, network, network
- T 鈥� Teach others about your career and life experiences
- O 鈥� Open yourself to new perspectives, offer new perspectives (advancement and change)
- R 鈥� Reinvent and revitalize your career
- S 鈥� Share knowledge and learn from other colleagues’ experiences
The PSO Mentorship Excellence Program Objectives:
- Develop strategies to achieve听effective allyship, focusing on the lived experiences of diverse individuals.
- Demonstrate the听importance of representation in professional spaces.
- Build community and create a sense of belonging for all staff by providing opportunities to be vulnerable, share challenges, and a direct roadmap to improve professional trajectories.
- Provide a resource for all staff to receive guidance and vetted advice from mentors who have experience in creating inclusive spaces where all can succeed.
- Scale to听incorporate 91探花faculty and staff in addition to expanding to other higher education institutions to aid in the advancement and retention of all staff.
Program Overview:
The PSO Mentorship Excellence Program is a pilot project introduced by the Professional Staff Organization in 2024, initially funded by the Diversity Seed Grant with a goal to increase representation and create career opportunities for all staff. The programming focuses on the lived experiences of diverse individuals. This effort provides the structural support necessary to develop professional skills to advance the careers of all 91探花 staff by building community over several months through individualized mentorship from 91探花 leaders. Mentees will be matched with mentors according to their career goals and interests while engaging with course curriculum to hone their leadership abilities and network with colleagues across the 91探花 Tri-Campus community. Participants may select to be matched with those who identify with their unique and diverse lived experiences. This program is intended to scale beyond the Professional Staff community to serve students, faculty, and classified staff with the goal of expanding to other higher education institutions in the future .
Participants will be paired in cohorts of 2:1 (mentees to mentor) and have the option of connecting virtually or in person. Focused monthly activities have been strategically designed to deepen meaningful professional relationship building, strengthen leadership skills, understand effective allyship, and build belonging for all are the focus of our program.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
More events coming soon.
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PAST EVENTS 2025
Mentorship in Practice 鈥撎鼵atalyzing Leadership Series
Workshop 4: Building Social Capital and Networking
Location: Virtual
Date: October 20, 2025
This workshop will explore how social capital influences our career advancement both directly and indirectly and will provide tactical strategies to advance in your career through meaningful relationship building.
Facilitator Tom Jacobs is a seasoned consultant, educator and IT professional with a rich background in Information Technology, Education and Organizational Change Management. With a passionate commitment to fostering belonging in work environments, he has developed comprehensive programs aimed at training managers who build psychologically safe workplaces.
Money Matters 鈥� Funding your Future by Fidelity Investments
Savings, Debt, & Investing
Location: Virtual
Date: September 11, 2025
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
In this workshop, Fidelity Investments will discuss funding your future through providing insight into tackling debt, savvy investment strategies, and navigating a fluctuating economy on a budget. Financial literacy is a language we are all continuing to learn as our life goals, plans, and needs evolve. Attendees will leave equipped with the knowledge to craft their action plan to take ownership of their financial health and build generational wealth.
Additionally, Fidelity is available for to create personal financial plans and other educational resources. If you would like to stay up to date with current discussions surrounding financial literacy, please visit the for articles, events, and other financial resources.
There are no slides or recording available for this event.
Mentorship in Practice 鈥� Catalyzing Leadership Series
Workshop 3: Building Trust, Growth, and Influence
Location: Virtual
Date: August 29, 2025
Discover how trust, connection, and strategic growth fuel personal and professional success. This session explores psychological safety, social capital, and career elevation鈥攇uided by the 5 Es of Development鈥攖o help you expand your impact and influence.
- Psychological Safety and Trust Building
- Social Capital & Networking
- Career Elevation
- The 5 Es of Development
There is no recording听available for this event.
Workshop 2: Conflict, Feedback, and Listening Skills
Location: Virtual
Date: August 22, 2025
Unlock the power of productive dialogue in this interactive session focused on navigating conflict, giving and receiving feedback, and sharpening your listening skills. Through real-world scenarios, you’ll discover how to stay grounded, build mutual understanding, and strengthen relationships in any setting.
- Conflict Management Styles
- Feedback Strategies
- Listening Techniques
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Workshop 1:听Communication Styles & Personality Insights
Location: Virtual
Date: August 14, 2025
- Communication Styles:
- Direct
- Initiating
- Supportive
- Analytical
- Application:
- Use your communication styles to improve your work relationships.
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How to Ace your Interview and Leadership Fundamentals 听
Location: Virtual
Date: August 08, 2025
This session facilitated by Ujima Sands, VP of Total Talent Management, provided perspective on strategies to enhance your interview skills and understand leadership fundamentals to cultivate your unique leadership style. Participants learned how to elevate their candidacy for their aspirational roles and identify how to effectively craft their career story to leave a memorable impression in interviews. They also learned key resume tips to improve their candidacy in today鈥檚 evolving and competitive job market.听听
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Additional Resources for this Event
Links and Resources:鈥�听
- 听
- 听
- 听
Update your LinkedIn:鈥�听
- 听
- 听
Interview Tips:鈥�听
- 听
- Prepare for your University Advancement interview using the鈥疭TAR method鈥� 鈥� 91探花 Advancement (Applicable to any career)鈥�听
PSO 2025 Mentorship Kick-off 鈥� Empowering Colleagues and Creating Community
Location: Virtual
Date: July 01, 2025
Kimberly Mishra is the 91探花Central HR Chief of Staff overseeing programs such as the Whole U, 91探花WorkLife, and the 91探花Combined Drive, and generously offered her time to connect with the program to answer the questions below about leading within a higher education institution like the UW. She shares insights from her over 20 years working in higher ed and how employees can identify their next steps to advance in their careers into senior leadership roles.
‘Empowering Colleagues & Creating Community’ – Questions
– Can you provide some key tips for early and mid-career professionals on advancing to the next level of their career?
– What is one aspect of working in HR that surprised you and your biggest takeaway?
– What are some resume & interview do’s and don’ts that you would like to share?
– For folks that want to advance into senior leadership roles, based on your experience, what are critical skills they should develop?
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PAST EVENTS 2024
BIPOC Staff Mentorship Program 鈥� Final Presentations
Location: Virtual
Date: October 31, 2024
The mentees within the BIPOC Staff Mentorship Program 2024 cohort gave final presentations regarding their experience and professional development over their time in the program. Mentees were tasked with identifying an area of improvement in either their department or field and devising an action plan to address this as well as discuss how their time engaging in the program curriculum, workshops, and with their peers and mentor enhanced their overall career development.听
Our 2024 cohort consisted of 10 mentors and 20 mentees that committed to advancing their careers through strategic goal setting centered around several core competencies such as cultivating psychological safety, leadership identity development, and building awareness around effectively communicating across differences in identity.听听听
You can review the presentations here: 听听听
Read this about one of our mentees that is making a positive impact on students at our Bothell campus!听听
Foundations of Financial Literacy Workshop
Location: Virtual
Date: October 07, 2024
Time: 1-2 pm
Fidelity Investments will lead a lunch and learn discussing 鈥楩oundations of Financial Literacy鈥�.听 Retirement, investments, and tips on building up a savings account will be covered as well as strategies to manage debt and create a stable financial life. This session will be held virtually via Zoom and will include a 10鈥�15-minute Q&A at the end of the presentation. Any questions not answered during the session will be shared with our facilitator following the event.
Additionally, Fidelity is available for to create personal financial plans and other educational resources.
If you would like to stay up to date with current discussions surrounding financial literacy, please visit the听 for articles, events, and other financial resources. 听
There are no slides or recording available for this event.
Wellness Embodiment Workshop听
Location: Virtual
Date: August 29, 2024
Time: 12-1 pm
This wellness embodiment workshop will focus on practical breathwork and movement practices to deepen self-awareness. It will include a synthesis of a variety of cultural philosophies and experimental practices that will assist with greater clarity in how we make decisions and apply values that align with our personal and professional life.听
Workshop Objectives:
- Identify key elements of self-awareness.听
- Define the benefits of breathwork and expressive movement.听
- Practice mindfulness and reflective inquiry.听
Building Resilience & Managing Stress 鈥� WA EAP Workshop听
Location: Virtual
Date: August 12, 2024
Time: 1-3 pm
In this engaging virtual workshop, 鈥楤uilding Resilience and Managing Stress鈥� with the Washington Employee Assistance Program, facilitated by Carlee Osburn, attendees will learn how to build resilience through six key areas:听听
- Social Connection
- Re-evaluating Empathy
- Identifying What We Can Control听
- Finding Meaning
- Self-Care Support听听
Following this session, attendees will be able to implement strategies that prioritize their wellbeing as they continue to build their careers while understanding the many contributing factors that lead to stress.听听
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A Nickel鈥檚 Worth Of Free Advice On Finance & Other Facts Of Life
Location: Virtual
Date: July 25, 2024
Time: 1-2 pm
Think about 鈥�听
- Your money.听
- Your career.听
- Your life.听
Do any (all) of these issues resonate with you as a young(er) professional of color?听听
Hopefully 鈥測es.鈥澨�听
And so: after this candid conversation, if you take away a thing (or two) you didn鈥檛 already know about making your way in the workplace and world beyond, then guest speaker, , will have enlightened you with uniquely meaningful guidance designed to benefit you now and in years ahead.听
Career Mapping Your Future 听
Location: Virtual
Date: July 9, 2024
Time: 1-3 pm
Achieving a successful career is not accidental for most people, especially BIPOC professionals. Success requires an intentional, well-thought-out plan that guides professionals on a path often uncharted by others. During this virtual workshop, attendees will be guided by facilitator, Sherman Fox that will share the career mapping framework that he has used to guide his career and to coach others.听
The Career Mapping process is outlined below.听听
- Create a whole-career resume. The purpose of this resume is to capture all the training, education, certifications, skills, knowledge, and experiences you have achieved during your whole career (document all your jobs after High School graduation). Leave nothing out!听
- Update current resume. It is important to keep resumes annually updated with all recent career accomplishments, (training, certifications, education, etc.). This step will speed up application submissions going forward.听
- Determine, research and find your dream job. What is your dream job? What work are you passionate about! This is an opportunity to dream about your future. Place no limitations on what job you choose. Using LinkedIn, Indeed and/or other job search sites, find this job (if it exists). If this job doesn’t exist, design it.听
Revamp your Resume & Interview Prep鈥擝e a Competitive Candidate Workshop Series Part 1
Location: Virtual
Date: June 10, 2024
Time: 2-3 pm
We are looking forward to launching our 鈥楤e a Competitive Candidate鈥� workshop series to prepare our 2024 cohort to successfully land their desired roles.听In Part 1 of our virtual听Revamp your Resume & Interview Prep Session,听participants will refine their elevator pitch, learn听best practices听to write compelling cover letters & resumes, and听develop skills听to master interviewing. Fatima Naseem, one of our PSO DEI Committee members and Operations Manager at 91探花Finance has extensive experience with听professional development听and will offer strategies to improve the effectiveness of your听job hunting. This workshop will set a strong foundation for you all to begin identifying potential desired roles you are interested in and begin putting the knowledge you gain into practice in part 2 where we will hold mock interviews and practice various interview scenarios. Part 2 will be scheduled following this session based on the groups鈥� needs.
Please feel free to bring questions to this session as we will have time for Q&A at the end.
Mentoring Fundamentals Workshop 鈥� Mentor Workshop Series Part 1
Location: Virtual
Date: May 23, 2024
Time: 2-3:30 pm
The PSO Mentorship team is looking forward to working with Christa Hickcox, Certified Professional Coach and Project Manager at 91探花IT, who will lead a听series听of听professional development听workshops to equip our leaders with听tactical听tools to serve as effective mentors. This听workshop听will cover topics such as establishing a meaningful connection in a mentorship relationship, fostering emotional safety by creating space and active listening, and provide a framework to assist with goal setting techniques. This is part 1 of 3-part series of workshops to equip our mentors to develop their听leadership skills and navigate any professional challenges that arise in their mentees鈥� career journeys successfully.
The subsequent workshops are below and more information about these will be shared soon.
Psychological Safety & Mindfulness Practices听听
Interactive Coaching Sessions (Role-Playing)
Burnout for Leaders: Supporting Staff and Yourself听 with WA Assistance Program
Location: Virtual
Date: March 28, 2024
Time: 11am-12:30 pm
The PSO Mentorship Team held their second virtual workshop for the BIPOC Staff Program听with the听
We discussed “Burnout for Leaders: Supporting Staff & Yourself”听facilitated by Carlee Osburn. While the session was geared towards leaders, the content of this was valuable to those seeking to establish stronger work-life balance and boundary setting with tactical strategies.
This session was interactive. Participants engaged in various leadership building and mindfulness exercises with their cohort.
Workshop Overview:听
- What burnout is and how it affects staff
- Burnout cycles and what they mean
- About leadership burnout
- Strategies to support staff and themselves in preventing or lessening burnout
Program Launched with a Workshop
Location: Virtual
Date: March 21, 2024
Time: 10-11 am
Leadership Identity Development with Leilani Lewis 鈥� Director of DEI at 91探花Advancement听
In this engaging, remote workshop, participants had the opportunity to explore their leadership identity with the guidance and expertise of Leilani Lewis, Director of DEI at 91探花Advancement. Participants discussed the preconceptions and misconceptions of navigating leadership roles, strategies on building community and sustaining these valuable networks particularly for BIPOC individuals, and learned how to effectively utilize their sphere of influence to create a tangible impact in the workplace. Throughout the session, participants connected in small groups and begin to establish connections with their program cohort and mentors.
- Name/pronouns: Fatima (pronounced FAA-th-ma) (she/her)
- Position and department:听Operations Manager on FinOps Team in FPB (Finance, Planning, and Budgeting) Department.
- Experience at the UW: Almost 2 and half years.
- What do you find most rewarding about the your work on the PSO DEI Committee? I鈥檓 so excited for the types of conversations we鈥檙e having and the amazing opportunities we are cocreating that never existed for me in the early stages of my career, and I feel honored to be able to contribute to this effort.
- What do you believe is the value of mentorship in advancing careers? I think it provides an individual with communication, self-awareness, professional knowledge, leadership skills, clarity of goals, insightful, fast tracked professional development, networking opportunities, and confidence.
- Fun fact! As a child, I wanted to be an archeologist.
- Name/pronouns:听Ava (she/her)
- Position and department: Clinic Manager | Hall Health Center
- Experience at the UW: About 2 years
- What do you find most rewarding about the your work on the PSO DEI Committee? The opportunity to engage with colleagues and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds fosters a sense of community and belongingness. Building relations and collaborating with others who share a commitment to DEI initiatives for me is very rewarding and not to mention the ongoing education and learning about various aspects of DEI.
- What do you believe is the value of mentorship in advancing careers?听For me the value lies within the value on what mentorship can do in advancing careers. Mentors are able to share knowledge, their best practice, provide insight, introduce mentees to their network, share skills, and many more. Mentorship is invaluable for advancing careers as it provides guidance, support, and opportunities for growth that can significantly impact mentees’ professional development and success.
- Fun fact! As a Filipino, I love to sing Karaoke, but unfortunately, I belong to the few 1% that don鈥檛 have a singing voice.
- Name/pronouns: Eileen (she/her)听
- Position and department: Diversity Global Programs Manager at 91探花Foster – Global Business Center.
- Experience at the UW: 3 years, including at the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center prior to Foster.听
- What do you find most rewarding about the your work on the PSO DEI Committee? I love being a part of the PSO DEI Committee because it gives me the opportunity to step beyond my student-facing role and collaborate with exceptional staff as well. I’ve enjoyed being inspired and challenged by the amazing leaders across 91探花and seeing the impact folks are making in each of their areas of influence.
- What do you believe is the value of mentorship in advancing careers? Mentorship is so powerful when mentors not only provide support and advice, but loudly and proudly advocate for you too. I truly believe that we grow to fill whatever pot we’re planted in, and oftentimes it’s mentors that help us realize we have the potential to fill a bigger pot.
- Fun fact! I have two sweet and friendly cats, Plum and Mango.听
- Name/pronouns: Tiana (she/her)
- Position and department: Program Administrator at the Continuum College听
- Experience at the UW: Over a year. I am also a 91探花alumna and studied Journalism.
- What do you find most rewarding about the your work on the PSO DEI Committee? The PSO DEI Committee has given me the opportunity to work with committed folks across the 91探花community with a shared passion to further diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for all on our campus. I have also been able to develop professionally with this group through the variety of programming and engagement opportunities we hold for staff, students, and faculty.听
- What do you believe is the value of mentorship in advancing careers? I am very passionate about mentorship and believe it is pivotal in helping us identify our capabilities and build confidence. Representation allows us to envision what is possible which was the influence behind launching my podcast, , where I highlight the career journeys and achievements of Black professionals, leaders, and scholars in Seattle to promote the advancement of the Black community through authentic and engaging conversations. Mentors have helped guide me throughout my career and provided invaluable advice that has contributed to my success. I hope the stories I share can inspire and uplift others to relentlessly pursue their goals.
- Fun fact! I grew up showing horses!听
- Name/pronouns: Russell Hugo (He/They)
- Position and department:听Interim Director, Language Learning Center
- Experience at the UW: Worked full time at 91探花since 2016, as a grad student since 2006
- What do you find most rewarding about the your work on the PSO DEI Committee? It’s a great opportunity to learn, as well as meet fantastic folks from around campus that I might not otherwise have.
- What do you believe is the value of mentorship in advancing careers? Mentorship is beneficial in many ways, including providing general support, but one important aspect is how it can aid with navigating some of the more problematic, but less salient, challenges certain communities face on campus.
- Fun fact! A few years back I was trail running near Bellingham and an owl mistook me for a meal and dug its talons into my scalp. I harbor no ill will, but I did question the famous eyesight of the species.
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