Women in Ag highlighting importance of one-on-one, group mentorship despite COVID issues

Whether people know it or understand its importance, mentorship, whether as a mentor or mentee, is how people grow in their professional and personal lives.

In times of COVID-19, there have been doors closed for mentorship programs across the country but doors have also been opened for organizations such as Women in Ag as they continue to connect mentors and mentees throughout the agriculture industry despite earlier worldwide lockdowns and event cancellations.

The Women in Ag organization has been a “network of women from all backgrounds in agriculture…(that) empowers, supports and connects women from across the industry,” since 2013 according to their website. The mentorship program only started in the last three to four years, Shelby LaRose, Women in Ag board chair and director, told farmnewsNOW because they saw a continued need and the importance of mentorship within the industry.

“Really having a mentor is a really good opportunity for anyone in their career despite the place you are in your career or your life. Sometimes having that little bit of support from someone that paved the way in the industry really can help go a long way.”

Given that they have traditionally provided one-on-one mentorship through the program, the pandemic made that an impossibility but also provided the organization new opportunities as virtual programming became more available, Shayla Hertz, vice-chair and mentorship coordinator, with Women in Ag told farmnewsNOW.

“It’s allowed us to bridge a lot of the gaps between mentors and and mentees and our members just in terms of allowing them to reach some of the individuals that they might not have been able to prior to (COVID) because they they had to be in person and that those logistics are just not in place.”

Hertz would like to consider many of their virtual opportunities as group mentorship sessions just because they have been able to reach a wider audience. Those have been great opportunities to connect their members, she said.

Unfortunately COVID has also caused changes to their Connect conference, she said, since they have not been able to hold the event since 2019 before the pandemic and they made the difficult decision to shut down their 2020 conference that was planned for November. Of course that is where a lot of networking happened, said Hertz, with women coming from across the industry meeting for the first time to share their stories and create their support networks.

“Lots of the table groups are supporting one another, talking through issues, hearing from one another in those more intimate formats, because that is right in the heart of Saskatoon where we hold that conference.”

The last few years with COVID-19 have been tough considering reaching out through social media is not as effective as creating their own meeting space and people prefer meeting in person.

Connect was also where Hertz has seen most of the new to the industry women, those who have married into agriculture and those who are just starting their careers.

Since the inception of the program, mentors and mentees have been coming from all different parts of the industry, said LaRose, from individual farm operators all the way up to high level positions, “anyone that is looking for more support.”

Hertz said they expected this to be a program from younger women in the industry; new farm wives and recent graduates.

That has not entirely been the case as Hertz has seen quite the gap in the range of ages of their members.

“We’re actually finding that it is kind of ranging from the, I would say, quite young women who are maybe just starting to have kids and kind of in the space where they’re really trying to get their career up and running, all the way to those who are welcoming grandchildren,” Hertz said.

This shows program organizers that these are around the ages when women have time to dedicate to their career development, said Hertz, and everyone is welcome no matter where the mentors and mentees are coming from in terms of their agricultural profession.

Mentees bring a wide range of issues into the mentorship program but work/life/family balance has always been a frequent topic of discussion, especially for mothers with young children who are also trying to launch or expand their agriculture careers. However Hertz said it has been coming up even more frequently considering the change in work environments that was brought about by COVID-19.

“Especially in the last two years, balancing those who have young children and farm, maybe our work or trying to work an off a farm job are normally where they went to an office, where they’re now actually having to work in their home with their kids at home.”

LaRose said they currently have six mentors that are available but COVID has obviously caused some issues when it comes to mentors and mentees meeting up one on one. Now that COVID restrictions are winding down across Saskatchewan, LaRose is excited for the different ways the program can expand now that they have the opportunities to do so.

While they know the need is there, they are still working to get the word out, she said.

“It’s something that we continue to promote to our mentors through our emails and our communications, but we’ve only had a couple people actually applied to the program and meet up with a mentor,” LaRose said. “So that’s where we’re really trying to make it into a more formal program so that people understand what they’re getting out of the program.”

Looking further into 2022, Hertz said they will be changing their intake methods to better match and maintain those mentor/mentee relationships. For women interested in becoming a mentor or a mentee, they can find the new intake forms at womeninag.ca.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim