OUR MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
In the Fall of 2024, we launched our first mentorship program pairing early career stage Asian women & femmes to receive mentorship, guidance, and support from established and later-career-stage Asian women & femmes across a variety of industries. Since then, we’ve hosted over 38 individual mentors and 80 mentees. Over the years, we’ve watched our mentees negotiate raises, launch businesses, direct films, publish work, find new jobs, apply to graduate school, and, perhaps most importantly, realize they're capable of far more than they thought. And we’re so excited for our 5th cohort!
Application for 2027 Cohort is now open!
Deadline: November 1, 2026, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
INDUSTRIES OF FOCUS
Arts & Entertainment
Advertising & Marketing
Branding & Design
Entrepreneurship
Digital Creator/Social Media
Social Impact (Non-Therapist)
Tech (Non-technical roles; examples: tech marketing, operations, partnerships, product management)
Mentors will have demonstrated accomplishments and leadership in one or more of the industries of focus and/or have had 10+ yrs experience. Mentors will be announced soon.
TIME COMMITMENT
1 hour orientation at beginning of the program in January 2027
1 hour, 1-on-1 session with your mentor per month over 11 months (February 2027 - December 2027)
Monthly check-in survey from AZN AMERICANA to track your progress and feedback
2 virtual workshops during the year
1-2 in-person meetups
OPTIONAL: AZN AMERICANA will provide a guide/curriculum to help shape sessions around your goals
MENTEE APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS
Must be based in the US
2-10 years of professional work experience (includes internships and volunteer experience)
Demonstrates they have overcome challenges in personal and professional life
Demonstrates clear motivation and goals for the mentorship program
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Strong mentor-mentee match — some mentees may be strongly qualified for the program, but we may not have the right mentor for them at this time!
Applicants from under-resourced or low-income backgrounds are highly encouraged to apply.
Applicants from under-resourced and/or low-income backgrounds are highly encouraged to apply.
WHY WE CREATED THIS PROGRAM
We wished we had mentors who could relate to us growing up. Because so many Asians and Asian Americans in the US are immigrants or 1st generation, we tend to have fewer role models who look like us or experience life the way we have and who have taken the paths we want to take. (We are some of the first!)
To empower Asian women & femmes to ask for help. Asian Americans are the least likely
to ask for help for aspects relating to mental health of the ethnic groups in US, and we wanted to create a space where they feel empowered to do that.
To advocate for each other. Asian women, and women of color more broadly, are often pit against each other — often under the guise that there’s “not enough room” for all of us. There is so much strength and power that comes from a connection between to Asian women/femmes who get each other.
For inquiries regarding the mentorship program, please email aznamericanacommunity@gmail.com.
PROGRAM MANAGER