Photo/submitted
Region – The Business Forward Females (BFF) group of the Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce was created as a forum to educate, inspire, and empower women from all levels of professional backgrounds. Monthly luncheons are held to bring professional women together for networking and business education with prominent women speakers sharing their knowledge and experiences.
BFF saw an opportunity to further the program’s mission by launching a mentoring program for the next generation of women leaders. The program was designed for emerging women leaders from local high schools to learn about key topics to help them be successful in the workplace, and to interact with established women leaders from the business community.
At the end of April, BFF launched its pilot mentoring program with 17 female high school students at Assabet Valley Technical High School. The program was modeled after the format of a BFF meeting. The students were introduced to the process of networking, presented a 30-second introduction of themselves, and a panel discussion was held with BFF members sharing helpful tips and knowledge on the importance of networking, business etiquette and dressing for success.
To implement some of the key teachings from the mentoring program, the Assabet students were invited to the May 12 BFF meeting to network with 120 of the Corridor Nine women leaders in attendance. They also had the opportunity to listen to guest speaker Alina Eisenhauer, executive chef and owner of the award winning Sweet Kitchen & Bar, who conveyed her passion for her business and the story behind her success.
“Now that we have the infrastructure of the mentoring program in place, we hope to bring our model to other schools in the Corridor Nine region,” said Karen Chapman, Corridor Nine president. “Students found that it was a valuable introduction to the business world, and the BFF mentors found the time they invested to be really worthwhile.”
To learn more about BFF and the mentoring program, visit www.corridornine.org or call the chamber at 508-836-4444.
