PMA Foundation Program Director Alicia Calhoun Talks New Mentoring Programs
NEWARK, DE - At this year’s PMA Foundation Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference, attendees in the executive track of the event were tasked with discussing several types of mentoring initiatives for a new program being designed to support leadership among members of the fresh produce industry.
As they continue to build the foundation of this program, Alicia Calhoun took the time to share with me a few insights into the initiative as the program begins to take hold.
“Mentors are known to be role models, advisors, problem solvers, and supporters. The PMA Foundation mentoring initiative will ignite a movement of new leaders and will provide an opportunity to create and foster meaningful relationships that will meet the needs of our industry members. The PMA Foundation will support our industry members by providing connections that will help them deepen and broaden their network, build their competencies, build confidence, and gain leadership skills,” Alicia tells me.
At this year’s event, the attendees in the executive track discussed a range of different mentoring options from Face-to-face, Group, and Virtual, to Blended and Reverse. They decided on three that resonated the most. From there, a polling software was used to poll all attendees on the mentoring approach they would like to see implemented.
In the end, a blended approach pulled ahead as the front-runner. This approach may include both face-to-face and virtual mentoring which allows the opportunity for both customization and flexibility.
“This will allow those who participate in the initiative to customize their mentoring experience to meet both their personal and professional needs. The full scope of the program will be developed in the coming months,” Alicia notes.
Alicia, along with the PMA Foundation staff, will be driving this initiative. An advisory group of industry members, who are a subset of the women who participated in the executive track at the conference, will also be assisting in the program development.
Additional details, including the qualifications for participation, will be determined as they flesh out the full scope of the initiative.
Stay tuned for more updates on the new PMA Foundation Mentoring Program!
