Want to become an EMS US Mentor? 

Benefits of Participation as an Executive Mentor:

• Help an incredibly deserving servicemember get a head start on the next chapter of their professional life. 
• Make a difference in the lives of everyone around that servicemember, who is counting on them as a parent, partner, child, neighbor, colleague, or friend. 
• Give back to a community that otherwise does not have access to your unique wisdom and expertise. 
• Develop, practice, and/or refine your executive coaching skills. 
• Gain access to a talent pool of motivated potential job candidates. ​

Commitments as an Executive Mentor:

Attend the initial 3-hour Kickoff Connect<->US in person. 
Servicemembers will not bring anything with them to the meeting. Suggested dress is business casual. 
The purpose of these Connect<->US is to learn about each servicemember’s goals, strengths, and needs while they get a feel for the executive mentors’ expertise and coaching style. 

• Upon arrival, servicemembers will complete 3 initial focus questions to help provide some direction for the Connect<->US. 
• You will be partnered with another local business executive. 
• As a pair, the two of you will meet with individual servicemembers for 10 minutes each. 
• Servicemembers rotate through executives via these 10-minute meetings until they have met all available executive mentors. 
• At the end of the Kickoff Connect<->US, servicemembers will write down the names of 3 of the executives they would be open to working with as a personal mentor. 
• Immediately after servicemembers leave the Connect<->US, executives review the servicemembers’ initial 1-to-1 sheet and make mentor assignments for the quarter based on the needs and preferences of each servicemember.​

Reach out to your servicemember mentee within 1 week of the Connect<->US. 

• Make time available for 4-6 individual mentorship meetings before the end of that quarter. 
  These follow-up meetings can be virtual or in-person, depending on the preferences of you and the mentee. 
• The exact length and frequency of these meetings is up to you and the mentee to determine. 
• Review the 1-to-1 sheet prior to, or at the start of, each follow-up meeting.

​Solicit and collect feedback from the servicemember about their experience in the program, for the purposes of improving your personal mentorship skills and the EMS US organization.      

• Be an empathetic, supportive, non-judgmental, non-critical, encouraging, compassionate, helpful person in the servicemember’s life. 
• Provide honest feedback and useful, actionable suggestions in support of the servicemember’s personal and professional goals. ​

"Coming out of the military can be strange, fun, and sometimes a bit bewildering. People can exit the military for a bunch of different reasons like going in as well. Finishing my service, I was looking forward to not being military. Not being military can be difficult. Really difficult. This group of working and talking to CEOs and COOs is bit jarring at first but then extremely helpful. They help ease your mind and give you feedback about not only your own thoughts but advice on things you could do or look for. This group can be the other half of transitioning back to being a civilian/veteran."
– SPC Jones