Women in Business Initiative Pairs Students With Mentors “What’s the best way to start a career? By building relationships and networking.” With those words, Susan Bauer, executive director of the Career Center, kicked off the ninth annual “Meet Your Mentor” evening, a Women in Business Initiative event held at Stern College for Women on February 28, 2019. Nineteen students, chosen through a two-month application and interview process, met for the first time with 19 mentors who had been invited to participate because their backgrounds, which ranged across healthcare management, business consulting, advertising, real estate, hotel management and law, aligned with the interests and needs of the students. The mentors and mentees will have at least two more meetings before the end of the school year. This year’s event, according to Bauer, shows the evolution of the program from its start nine years ago. “In the early years, participating students were typically finance or accounting majors,” said Bauer. “Back then, if you said ‘women in business,’ you were often referring to women with careers in finance or accounting. But today our students are expecting to pursue careers in their respective majors and areas of interest, from fashion and psychology to real estate and social media.” Shira Teichman ’20S, majoring in accounting at Sy Syms School of Business, was excited about meeting with Aliza Feuerberg, managing director at Deloitte, because “it gave me a better understanding of the field I’m going into. It’s one thing being in a classroom and learning about a subject. But it’s completely different to get real-life advice from someone who has actual experience in the field.” Shayna Doretsky ’20S was fortunate enough to be paired with Abigail Goldstein of EY Assurance because she works in the same audit firm where Doretsky will be interning this summer. “Spending time with my mentor gave me a good idea of what to expect. After all, the more comfortable you are with something, the better equipped you are to get a running start.” The event is also meaningful for the mentors. Liz Roth, a director of tax technology at KPMG, has participated in the event several times and is focused on helping young women find a path in a field which, although still dominated by men, offers many new career opportunities in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence. Teresa Bayewitz of Mercer Consulting was pleased to meet Stern College students who were smart and driven and ready to listen to the kinds of advice that “not only gives them a reality-check but also helps empower their careers.”