In 2009, when Jeanne Mell took a position with the
University City Science Center, a colleague and friend -- Victoria Burkhart of
The Burkhart Group -- gave her a powerful piece of professional advice: "If you're going to be [working] in Philly, you
have to join [the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs]."
Today, Mell serves as the Fellows Committee Chair for the
Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a nearly 20-year-old organization "dedicated to fostering high-growth businesses founded or led by women," according to its mission statement. It's the largest group of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic.
Along with a schedule of educational and networking events, AWE also runs the annual
Building Bridges Fellowship Program. Each year, up to four female early-stage entrepreneurs are selected to participate. The fellowship includes extensive one-on-one business coaching and professional mentoring from an AWE mentor-liaison, who helps to integrate the fellow into the larger AWE community.
Nominations are now open for the 2015 Building Bridges program, which will kick off this November.
"What we're really looking for is a fellow who is committed to her business -- that's No. 1," says Mell. "We want somebody who will participate in the coaching sessions, and take full advantage of the fellows program. And it's not right for everybody."
The current
fellowship class of 2014 features three women who not only operate three very different companies, but are also at very different stages of their careers and lives.
Still, "it's really interesting to see that these women share a lot of the same challenges and experiences, regardless of what sector they're in," she muses. "And I think that's really the value of the AWE Fellows Program: being able to help these women entrepreneurs on that level."
To access nomination materials,
click here.
Writer: Dan Eldridge
Source: Jeanne Mell, AWE Fellows Committee