VABAW Mentorship Program
VABAW recognizes the challenges faced by law students and junior practitioners in entering into the legal profession. In particular, Vietnamese Americans face unique challenges because we have limited access to senior Vietnamese American role models due to our relatively recent history in the United States. The VABAW Mentorship Program seeks to fulfill the need for support and leadership by pairing law students and junior practitioners with more senior practitioners from VABAW’s membership. Law student members will be paired with a VABAW mentor who will serve as his/her mentor during the entirety of his/her academic career. Junior practitioners will be matched with a VABAW mentor for at least one year and thereafter can continue their relationship or seek a different mentor through the program. Pairings will occur on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Program Goals
1. Contribute to the professional development of VABAW members who are junior practitioners (0-3 years of practice) or law students.
2. Provide ongoing leadership and support to VABAW mentees.
3. Create a strong social and professional relationship between the mentees, mentors, and VABAW.
Mentee Responsibilities:
1. Initiate communication with Mentor and be responsible for setting up meeting times.
2. Communicate concrete mentorship goals to Mentor.
3. Coordinate attendance at VABAW events with Mentor.
4. Report any recommendations or issues to Mentorship Program Co-Chairs.
Mentor Responsibilities:
1. Be responsive to Mentee communications.
2. Be flexible to meet with Mentee at least once per month.
3. Help Mentee understand the scope of a mentoring relationship and work with Mentee to develop goals for your specific mentoring relationship.
4. Be open and candid in giving career or networking advice to Mentee.
5. Assist Mentee with networking.
6. Support and encourage Mentee.
7. Report any recommendations or issues to Mentorship Program Chairs.
Benchmarks for a Successful Mentorship Relationship:
1. Meaningful discussions (either in person or via phone) at least once per month.
2. Communication flows easily, comfortably, and candidly.
3. Mentee finds value in having a VABAW Mentor and recommends the program to others.
4. Mentee becomes more familiar with VABAW and its programs, missions, and members.
The mentorship program is designed to provide law students and new attorneys an opportunity to interact with practicing lawyers. We have continued our success with the mentorship program, and received this comment from one of our mentees about her mentor:
“Thanks a lot for arranging this program. It is very beneficial to me. My mentor and I have met for three times already, two for lunch and one for the Saturday cleanup event . . . I not only got valuable advice from her, but more importantly, she connected me with several people from the law firm where I am going to work at for the summer. So to put it short, I really appreciate her responsiveness, frankness and willingness to help me reach out.”
To sign up as a mentor, please click here. To sign up as a mentee, please click here. Please send your application to the VABAW President. If you have any questions about the Mentorship Program, please contact VABAW President at vabawpresident@gmail.com
