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To Our NABFEME Mentee:

Welcome to the NABFEME Mentor Partnership. We are excited about your participation in the program and your interest in pursuing a music and entertainment industry career. As a NABFEME Mentee, you are regarded as a highly passionate individual who is serious about their desire to be a successful entertainment executive. Our Mentees are diligent in accruing knowledge and skills; they value loyalty, and are willing to step up to the challenges the mentor places before them. The NABFEME Mentee is reliable and prompt, completes assignments and is not afraid to take the initiative in new areas. Our Mentees seek to uphold the ethics and standards of their chosen profession and are expected to take the lead in the mentoring relationship, to ensure that the Mentor positively affects their development.

How Can A NABFEME Mentor Benefit Me?

1. If you are undecided about your career path. Consulting with your NABFEME Mentor who is currently working, or has worked within the profession your are considering is an excellent way to help you to determine if that career option is right for you. Your Mentor can provide you with an industry wide perspective and answers to such questions as "what can I expect a typical day on the job to be like?"
2. If you need advice or support. The outside perspective of a Mentor can be an invaluable resource in today's workforce. The NABFEME Mentor's guidance can benefit any young professional who is seeking new ideas at work or wants to broaden their career goals.
3. If you are new to your profession. The experience and guidance your Mentor can offer may help you to learn the ropes of your profession more quickly, elevate your level of success or help you to develop new confidence and competence on the job.
   

What Does a NABFEME Mentor Do?
It is difficult to define exactly what a Mentor does. Every situation is unique because every person's needs and expectations vary. However, our Mentors are expected to:

· Set high expectations
· Lead and teach by example
· Provide challenging concepts
· Provide growth experience
· Build self-confidence
· Speak words of wisdom
· Promote professional behavior
· Explain how things are structured
· Deal with negative attitudes & behaviors
· Offer support during difficult situations
· Listen to problems
· Assist with career development

NABFEME and "Virtual Wo-Mentoring"
NABFEME defines a Mentor as someone who has found ways to succeed in life and cares enough to pass those lessons along. NABFEME takes this concept a step further by introducing what we call, "Virtual Wo-Mentoring." Realizing we cannot rely on men to pick female protégés and can't depend on being able to socialize in the old school style - i.e. the boy's club, on the basketball court, or over a cigar - we had to change the rules. We discovered a new world of mentoring - a world where the old rules, written and practiced by men mentoring men, have been restructured by women mentoring women… a world we call "Wo-Mentoring." Women's mentoring is more about commitment than chemistry. It's more about personal growth and development, rather than promotions and perks. It's more about learning than power. It's not about who you know… but who knows you and what you can do!

How Does "Virtual Wo-Mentoring" Work?
NABFEME combines this new style of mentoring with the technology of the Internet to create "Virtual Wo-Mentoring." With our email based Mentor Partnership Program, NABFEME helps to develop an interactive relationship between the Mentor and Mentee through the use of the Internet. Experienced entertainment professionals offer their talent and advice to those they council, based on matching data compiled from the Mentor and Mentee's professional profile. Once a workable profile is identified, a mentoring partnership is formed and our "Virtual Wo-Mentoring" process begins. Initiated and carried out though email correspondence, the email mentoring partnership can last from several months to several years, based on the mutual parties needs and aspirations.

The NABFEME Mentor Partnership profile database matches up a NABFEME Mentee with a NABFEME Mentor based on the following criteria:

1. Professional occupation
2. Location
3. Years of work related experience
4. Miscellaneous information from the profile
   

The Etiquette of Mentoring
Since all Mentors and Mentees come to relationships with different styles and expectations, one of the first things a Mentor and Mentee should discuss with each other are the rules they would like to use in their relationship. The basic rule is to make the other person feel at ease and comfortable with the relationship. This means showing kindness, flexibility, and appreciation, and using social manners. We have outlined several do's and don'ts for Mentees that we believe will be helpful in developing a successful mentoring partnership.

Suggestions for Mentees

Do's	Don'ts
Take time to establish what you are looking for in this relationship.	Depend on your mentor to identify what you are looking for from this relationship.
Be considerate of your mentor's time. Return phone calls and e-mails promptly, be on time.	Assume your mentor has unlimited time for you.
Listen attentively to what your mentor has to say.	Tune out when the topic seems irrelevant to your immediate needs.
Be complete yet succinct in your comments and explanations.	Ramble on, ignoring clues that you're talking too long.
Show appreciation for assistance your mentor gives you.	Take your mentor for granted or assume he/she does not need reinforcement.
Make it easy for mentor to give you guidance and suggestions.	Immediately defend or explain yourself, or criticize your mentor.
Make only positive or neutral comments to others about your mentor.	Talk negatively about your mentor behind his or her back.

NABFEME has set the mentor/mentee partnership time frame at 35 hours total, during a period of three (3) months. You can begin as soon as the NABFEME Mentor Partnership Program Administrator initiates the pairing and makes the assignment. We ask that your sessions be at least 10 to 15 minutes long. As the relationship progresses, session time should increase to about 30 minutes long or higher. If for some reason the pairing becomes problematic, please consult us immediately. Our direct line is (201) 724-9836 or you may call us toll free at (877) 622-3362. We are also available at info@NABFEME.org and SheliaJenkins@nabfeme.org.