Summit Fellows Spotlight: Q&A with Lana Gifas of Women’s Mentoring Network, Inc.

July 24, 2018

By: MENTOR

With the generous founding support of AT&T, MENTOR launched the Summit Fellowship Program in 2016 to provide professional development scholarships to mentoring program leaders facing financial constraints to attend our National Mentoring Summit. In 2017, thanks to additional investments, MENTOR expanded the Program and provided fifteen scholarships to dedicated leaders from mentoring programs operating with a budget of $150,000 or less.

In the Summit Fellows Spotlight series, the 2018 Fellows reflect on their experiences at the Summit and the lessons they’ve brought back to their local communities and programs.

Lana Gifas, Executive Director, Women’s Mentoring Network, Inc., Stamford, CT

Q: Why was it important for you to attend the National Mentoring Summit, and how did you think that it would impact you and your organization?

A: Women’s Mentoring Network provides services and programs to low-income women and their families. Our First Generation Achievement Program serves the students of the women that we work with, ranging from elementary school students to college-aged students.

It was so wonderful to receive a Fellowship from MENTOR to attend the National Mentoring Summit in January 2018. I knew that it was important for me to attend the Summit since we are such a small organization and we are searching for ways to improve upon the organization so that we may grow and serve even more women and families in the community; the Fellowship provided me with the opportunity to attend the Summit.

Q: What did you learn from the Summit that you have brought back to your organization?

A: Going to the Summit allowed me to meet and share ideas with other mentoring organizations of all different sizes from around the country, knowing that we all share a common goal. I was able to share ideas on best practices and the different resources available to us. There were definitely resources that I found out about at the Workshops that I will look to implement in the future. For example, I attended a workshop to learn more about AmeriCorps and I will now be looking into how to get an AmeriCorps intern.

There were also great contacts from many corporations that I had a chance to speak with. One of the biggest takeaways for me was to actually see all the initiatives that exist between organizations and corporations to help students succeed.

Capitol Hill Day was a great experience for me as well. I had the chance to visit five different offices, and I had a chance to meet Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Since I was the only representative from CT, I had a chance to speak to the staff of each office about my organization and about the items that they should support in order to help mentoring programs.

Not only can I bring back the knowledge and resources to my organization, but I will also be able to share the knowledge with the local mentoring collaborative in Stamford, CT, which is spearheaded by the Governor’s Prevention Partnership (another presenter at the Summit).

I hope I will have the opportunity to attend the Summit again next year since it was such a valuable experience.

Q: Why is it important to support and provide mentoring practitioners with professional development and peer networking opportunities?

A: I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to support and provide mentoring practitioners with professional development and peer networking opportunities because we are truly making a difference in society and in the world today. Strong mentor relationships result in stronger, more confident individuals. These individuals are more likely to be successful in reaching their goals, focusing on the future and contributing positively to society as a whole.

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