Nurturing Our Next Generation of Young Women

Amid the circuit breaker, this year's Pay It Forward Mentorship Programme came alive successfully on 11 April, with our first ever digital version of the kick-off! 30 young, passionate YWLC ladies and 30 mentees from ITE College Central and International Women's Forum (IWF) Singapore were in attendance on Zoom. The kick-off commenced with a welcome address by YWLC Executive Committee members and our programme partners. To better prepare first-time mentors and mentees, our attendees participated in a session which put together experiences, and useful advice and tips to get started by YWLC members and students who were previously mentors and mentees respectively. Key takeaways for mentors include:

1. Be proactive in building relationships before diving into mentorship

2. Be open to listen

3. Provide honest feedback, but also be generous with praise and stingy with criticism

4. Strive to inspire

5. Put yourself in the shoes of a cheerleader or life coach

In the other track, one of the mentees from the previous batch also shared about her experience and how to best nurture a successful mentor-mentee relationship. Here are some tips:

1. Be unafraid to reach out and ask questions

2. Be sure of what you are seeking from the relationship

3. Utilise your mentor's experience, especially if they work in a different field, and use this to widen your own perspective and enhance your choices

Following these activities, there was a virtual speed-dating among mentors and mentees. Through the online breakout rooms, mentors and mentees connected one-to-one over each other's life goals and aspirations, not forgetting fun conversations on highly raved about Dalgona Coffee and home workouts! With this, we hope the mentors and mentees have found their ideal match. We are grateful to ITE College Central and IWF Singapore for this continued partnership and opportunity to support our younger women.

We would also like to thank the following speakers who have contributed to the kick-off and inspired our young women:

• Ms Judith Ng, Lecturer in Charge, ITE College Central

• Ms Nazieah Mohd Saleh, Lecturer in Charge, ITE College Central

• Ms Arfat Selvam, Mentorship Programme Lead, IWF Singapore

• Ms Wong Jia Yun, YWLC Chairperson

• Ms Kelley Wong, YWLC Vice-Chairperson

• Ms Lynn Er, Advisor to YWLC Executive Committee & Former Chairperson

• Ms Beatrix Sio, Mentorship Director, YWLC Executive Committee

• Ms Shermin Ho, YWLC Member & Mentor in 2019

• Ms Melissa Tan, Mentee in 2019

This is just the beginning of the six-month long Mentorship Programme. We wish all mentors and mentees a fulfilling journey together! Kudos to the organising team from the Community Engagement subcommittee - Cheng Hui, Helena, Jodi, Minerva and Serene for their dedication and hard work to launch the programme!