Want to become an EMS US Mentor? 

Benefits of Participation as an Executive Mentor:

• Help an incredibly deserving service member get a head start on the next chapter of their professional life. 
• Make a difference in the lives of everyone around that service member, 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. 
Service members 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 service member’s goals, strengths, and needs while they get a feel for the executive mentors’ expertise and coaching style. 

• Upon arrival, service members 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 service members for 10 minutes each. 
• Service members rotate through executives via these 10-minute meetings until they have met all available executive mentors. 
• At the end of the Kickoff Connect<->US, service members will write down the names of 3 of the executives they would be open to working with as a personal mentor. 
• Immediately after service members leave the Connect<->US, executives review the service members’ initial 1-to-1 sheet and make mentor assignments for the quarter based on the needs and preferences of each service member.​

Reach out to your service member 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 service member 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 service member’s life. 
• Provide honest feedback and useful, actionable suggestions in support of the service member’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