Women-centred Organization Rolls Out Mentoring Program
Women in the Floorcovering Industry (WIFI) is rolling out a mentoring program.
“For many years, so many of us talked about the need for an organization that offered networking and support opportunities for the women in the floor covering industry,” says WIFI board chair Emily Morrow Finkell. “The WIFI mentoring program will help women expand their networks and gain leadership development through professional mentorship and camaraderie.”
The goal of the program, which matches mentors to mentees, is to accelerate the professional development of mentees.
All members of WIFI are eligible to participate and participants can join from any segment of the industry.
The mentoring program is six months in length, consisting of eight sessions. WIFI says participants should plan to devote one hour every three weeks to the program. Each mentor/mentee match will pick meeting times that work with their schedules. WIFI will provide training to the mentors and ‘table topics’ for each session. Sessions will be virtual, using video conference software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Applications for mentors and mentees will be taken March 3.
Training will be provided to mentors in March, and through ongoing monthly calls.
This cohort of mentee/mentor matches will start in April and run through September.
WIFI is a non-profit organization that launched in spring 2021, to grow the number of women within the floor covering industry. Its objective is to empower, connect, support, encourage, develop, educate, inspire and attract current and future women in the industry.
“For many years, so many of us talked about the need for an organization that offered networking and support opportunities for women in the floor covering industry,” said founding director Morrow Finkell at the time of the launch. “It never seemed to happen until a strange phenomenon occurred, Covid-19, which literally brought us all to a snail’s pace. It was during that time (that it was) decided if not now, when?”