Brent’s efforts have been phenomenal. He has been enthusiastic from the beginning by asking questions, networking and developing an action plan. He participated in multiple mock interviews that I set up for him in addition to several informal information gathering meetings with prospective employers, even though he started this process fairly early. Finally, the most important and impactful activity he initiated, was that he met with a firm to discuss implementing a fellowship program at their organization, which I think is a fantastic idea. Working with him over the past year, seeing his enthusiasm and proactive approach has been truly inspiring.

Mentor: Christopher Hewett, Marietta, Georgia, Home Depot

Ryan has been an excellent protege. He has been prompt, responsive and always punctual. He was very responsible in taking charge of his own career, which is key for anyone pursuing anything. He has constantly come to me with relevant questions and has always seemed interested in learning. He has taken all my feedback seriously, and followed through. I have seen a huge improvement in his confidence and the level of clarity he has with his career going forward.

Mentor: Deepak Mulani, Piscataway, New Jersey, Colgate-Palmolive

Molly is an ambitious young woman. She successfully splits her time between being a wife, a mother and a student at the University of Phoenix. She has a very clear understanding of herself and has a number of ambitious career goals. One of the things I admire about Molly is her dream of opening her own business. She has already started to cultivate her business plan! She has had her eye on a local business and has been monitoring its progress. She has seen how the business changed owners within the past year and observed reasons why it hasn’t been successful. Her business plan includes correcting former owners’ business practices and budgeting for the purchase and conversion. I believe Molly will do well in anything she chooses to do in life and I happily nominate her for veteran Protégé of the month.

Mentor: Denise Magnani, Port Chester, NY

America is an incredible person and it has been a pleasure working with her this year. America and I are both busy working moms so we keep in touch through emails, texts, and phone calls - really whatever we can work into our schedules! We manage to speak live every few weeks and when we do, we try to come up with a short list of items America can accomplish before our next call. Examples of this are enrolling in a human resource course and updating her resume.  America is extremely motivated and has tackled and completed everything we’ve discussed thus far.

Currently, America’s husband is deployed and she has had to be a single mom to her young daughter. Simultaneously, she is managing a full-time job and continuing her search for a new home and a new job. As expected, she is handling all of this with amazing ease and grace. I admire America’s tenacity, determination and work ethic!

Mentor: Susan Guyon, Havertown, Pennsylvania, Amgen

Working with David has been an enormously rewarding experience. From our first call he showed up prepared and ready, sending me materials and questions in advance of our conversations and then doing the homework. If I recommended a book, he read it. If I mentioned a resource, he checked it out. In addition to taking initiative, David also takes all feedback in his stride without being defensive. He has quickly implemented new strategies and tactics based on our conversations. In the seven months we've been working together, David has obtained a new job and has already been promoted. I am very impressed with his perseverance and success!

Mentor: Lisa Schneider, New York City, New York, Merriam-Webster

I began working with Melody Monroe in September, 2017. From the start, she was clear on her focus post-retirement from active military duty. Leveraging her Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Development, Melody is actively looking for opportunities in the HR field that will combine her HR background with the training and managerial skills she developed in the Air Force. During the mentorship, we began to discuss what type of HR roles she may want to pursue and what industries would be a good fit.

Melody has been very open to working on her resume and building a network of resources to open her up to the public HR world. Each month we discuss HR roles and the skills and experiences needed to break into the field. Despite her full time workload and active home with two teenagers, she dedicates time to continue work on her long-range plan and put steps in place to achieve her goals. Next, we want to get her LinkedIn profile updated. I look forward to our monthly calls and helping Melody plan for the next steps in her career. Her enthusiasm and optimism are contagious!

Mentor: Virginia Marchetti, Weehawken, New Jersey, UBS