I have had the extreme privilege to work with Gavin through the entire pandemic. I won’t pretend that it hasn’t been a struggle, but through all of it, Gavin never gave up looking for work in a creative field that fit his skill set. Gavin recently accepted a job as Washington state governor Jay Inslee’s Social Media Director. I have never been more excited to see someone’s hard work pay off. I know this means that our work together has just started as he gets his feet under him in his new job and I’m very excited to see how he grows as an artist and a valuable member of Inslee’s team. I am forever grateful to have been given the opportunity to help in Gavin’s journey.

Mentor: Frank Koumaros, Seattle, WA, Fox

I’ve had the privilege of working with Scott Ashcroft for the past year. Scott brings tremendous enthusiasm and a diverse background to our mentorship and I honestly have learned so much from our frequent interactions. Scott is the Web Development Program Director at Bryan University, a private on-line institution based in Tempe, Arizona that offers programs in the fields of healthcare, exercise science, and legal. As the program director, he oversees all operations of the web development department, managing instructors and staff, training and development as well as his advisory board duties. In addition to Scott’s full-time career at Bryan University, he is also the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a founding Board Member of the non-profit organization, veTcave. This non-profit is dedicated to promoting awareness and assisting Veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), overcome challenges and develop self-reliance through entrepreneurial endeavors. We’ve collaborated on ways of improving site traffic and lead data capture as well as ideation on other ways to increase exposure for this worthwhile cause. I look forward to continuing my personal and professional relationship with Scott through the ACP mentorship program.

Mentor: Benjamin Luci, Naperville, Illinois, General Motors

Kerstin is a mentor to others and rightfully so. While I do make suggestions to her about tweaking her career path to success, Kerstin makes it very easy by being so well organized and self-aware. I see Kerstin as the type of person who easily transitions into a people leader. She is open and honest, yet cares about how messages are delivered to people. She displays natural leadership skills of empathy, thoughtfulness and resilience. She responds with emotional maturity by being thoughtful of her words and actions. Kerstin seeks challenges and even fought through Covid-19 and power and water outages during this relationship. She doesn’t take the easy road unless that is the best path. She listens to given advice and processes it in a mature manner. I wish she were my mentor sometimes. Kerstin loves to grow in any position she takes on. She also thinks well enough in advance to know this is not her stopping point. She does not look for the end of her career. She looks for more difficult challenges. I am proud to say that I have had a small input into her growth. Kerstin has a lot to offer any business and is a good person to know at any level in life. We are growing together through the ACP Mentorship Program.

Mentor: Sharolynn Harper, Springfield, Illinois, Verizon

I believe Cyril is a great candidate for this spotlight recognition. We have developed a great friendship in such a short time. He has a great work ethic and is excelling in his role at Amazon. In fact, he just received a promotion there. Cyril is also taking classes working towards his degree and the biggest news is that he and his wife are expecting their first children, twins! We continue to make time to check in with each other, share our achievements and success stories as well as talk about the world’s problems and try desperately to find ways to fix them all. Cyril is a good man with integrity and compassion. It has been a pleasure getting to know him. 

Mentor: Dave Melby, Naperville, Illinois, UBS

I've been honored to get to know Tom through the ACP Mentoring Program. From the beginning of our mentoring sessions, he has been open and transparent with his experience transitioning into the corporate world. As he navigated the complexities of relationship-building and teaming, he displayed natural leadership skills of empathy, thoughtfulness and resilience. He responds with emotional intelligence - being aware, considerate and thoughtful of his words and actions towards others, always looking inwardly to first consider how to better relate or respond to any challenges in teaming with managers and colleagues. I've learned so much from Tom and I look forward to continuing to know him professionally and personally through the ACP Mentoring Program

Mentor: Annaliza Meleski, Simpsonville, South Carolina, IBM

From our first call, James was a full partner in our mentorship. He approached every part of it with energy, enthusiasm and open-mindedness. This made our journey together as productive and enjoyable as any mentorship I’ve been part of. The fact that he approached it as a journey and allowed it to happen as much as he actively made it happen, were instrumental. He found numerous, excellent opportunities, which was no surprise to me. I am also grateful for the incredible warmth that James extended to me at all times. Working together was never work and our time together always felt collaborative. We were stepping forward together and always learning as we went. James is a superb role model for other mentees.

Mentor: Michael Rubenstein, Purchase, New York, Mastercard