NEWIEE Mentoring and Peer Circle Program
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey
Recently a mid-career friend who works in a different field asked me “Do you have any mentors?” and I instantly pictured many women in the NEWIEE network who I have been in touch with to get their perspective and advice, to learn something, or to get a gut check on an idea over recent years. “Yes!” I responded emphatically, before we got into discussion of how I find those informal mentoring interactions both easy to access for myself and also very easy to provide for others within the NEWIEE community.
At NEWIEE we know that there are many women who are looking for a more formal structure to a mentoring relationship – and we’re thrilled to provide it! Our newest mentoring offering – NEWIEE’s Peer Circles Program, which enables women to learn from and connect with a group of their peers – completed its first cycle earlier this year and was a big success. Peer Circles run on a six-month cycle that is complementary to the established NEWIEE Mentee Pairing Program that continues to provide women with the opportunity to build a one-on-one mentoring relationship over a six-month period, supported by monthly suggestions of mentoring questions. The Mentee Pairing Program is currently underway, with the next cycle beginning in the Spring of 2025. Registration for the second Peer Circles cycle will open this November.
Our “NEWIEE on the Move” social media posts regularly highlight women who are moving to leadership positions within the energy and environment industries, and we believe that the mentorship women receive when they participate in the NEWIEE conversation allows them to see the hope inside themselves, per Oprah Winfrey’s quote, and also provides a multitude of other benefits that help women rise to ever more impactful leadership positions – thereby advancing diversity and empowering the industry per NEWIEE’s mission.
Jacquie Ashmore
Executive Vice President of Engineering for New Leaf Energy
NEWIEE Director, Mentoring Co-Chair, and Past President (2018 to 2020)
Mary Louise “Weezie” Nuara
Assistant Secretary for Federal and Regional Energy Affairs
Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
NEWIEE Director, Mentoring Co-Chair, Boston Chapter Co-Chair, and Past President (2020-2022)
© 2024 New England Women in Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE). NEWIEE is a non-profit, tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
