We’re two days in to the program and the Global Ambassadors and mentees are settling in to intensive working sessions and mapping out new ideas for their businesses and organizations.
To start things off, mentees – leading a range of organizations, from a business incubator in Russia, to a materials transport logistics firm in Belarus, to a human rights and social services NGO in Ukraine – dived deep in to communications and media training to build the basic skills in public speaking and interviewing needed for making the most out of their mentorships and for implementing growth plans post-program.
Participants connected with each other for the first time over an informal dinner at the end of the day Monday with special guests from Lithuania and Poland. Aukse Jurkute, managing director, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, offered welcome remarks and personal reflections on mentoring and the power of women’s leadership.
Meet Agnieszka Bilinska, mentee and co-founder of Vital Voices Poland:
We also heard from Daria Go�ā€Ŗbiowska-Tataj, economics and technology entrepreneur and co-founder of Vital Voices Poland, who spoke movingly about her leadership journey, her grandmother as a role model, the history of the local chapter and its flagship mentoring and leadership programs for women in the region. Global Ambassador Eileen O’Connor presented a retrospective on her time as a journalist covering the Solidarity movement in the 1980s.
Today, trainer Kathleen Holland led the group through a rigorous, methodical strategic planning and goal setting session. This will establish a common framework for working through goals and objectives in innovative ways, leading to new business plans and strategies for growth. These plans will be iterated throughout the week and presented for group feedback and discussion on the last day.
Stay connected:
Read the first blog
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, hashtag #GlobalAmbassadors.
Watch the program’s YouTube playlist.
Visit the Global Ambassadors page at Bank of America and engage at their social media dashboard.
Photography: David Hume Kennerly