Mentoring women  has been shown to be a key element  in the success of women in the workplace,  providing advice, support, guidance and access to networks to women at various stages of their careers.  I had the privilege this week of hearing Jada Grandy’s eloquent and impassioned keynote speech on the importance of mentoring at the Robert Morris University Women and Transformational Leadership Symposium. Jada is a Senior Vice President & Regional CRA Strategies Director of Fifth Third Bank. I felt honored as she acknowledged me as one of her mentors. Jada spoke of some of the key ways in which her various mentors have helped her in her life and career, which are often a part of the mentoring relationship: professionalism, integrity, image, advocacy, communication, work life “integration,” negotiation skills and networking. She encouraged the college students in the audience to seek out mentors, and passionately requested professionals in the audience to volunteer as a mentor. Programs like the ones at Robert Morris U. provide the structure and resources to assure the success, stability and continuation of mentoring relationships. I’ll be exploring mentoring in future posts!