Mentoring in the Moment

They experimented with electricity conductivity and learned about coding patterns. They made robots dance, spin and walk backwards.

More than 40 girls — middle and high school students from Greater New Haven — took part in the Girls of Color Mentoring Network’s (GOCMN) collaborative STEM event at the Spanish Community of Wallingford (SCOW) this spring, run by the CT STEM Academy. A program of The Foundation’s Community Fund for Women & Girls, the GOCMN is a collective of eight local organizations finding new ways to bolster their work in serving girls of color.

Jazmin Calvillo, a senior at Wallingford’s Sheehan High School, teamed up with a partner and connected wires from a banana to a computer to turn the piece of fruit into a keyboard they could play music on. “That conductivity experiment took a lot of problem solving,” she said. “It was also really fun.”

Calvillo, who will be the first in her family to attend college, said the best part of the day was hearing from a group of speakers from the mentoring network, women of color who work in STEM fields including Latisha Douglas, a data scientist at Prudential Financial, and Lisa Crutchfield Diggs, Avangrid’s director of IT operations, who talked about their career journeys.

“They were really inspiring,” Calvillo said. “They showed me that as a woman I can do anything.”

Randi McCray, founder of RM Consulting Services Inc. and consulting facilitator of GOCMN, said that was the goal. “Visibility is everything for girls and young women,” McCray said. “You can’t know you want to be something or have interest in being something unless you are exposed to it and if you see people like you doing it.”

“We made sure that our stations were female-led, to have better connections and answer any of the girls’ questions,” said Laura Juárez, robotics director of CT STEM Academy, who helped facilitate the GOCMN STEM event at SCOW. “The girls were excited to hear and see that there is a place for them in the STEM field.”

This has been a year full of momentum and promise for the network. In addition to fostering long-term mentoring connections, “we talked about mentoring in the moment,” said McCray. “We create events and opportunities for young people to get advice, support and guidance and plant seeds for more opportunities.”

McCray cited additional highlights of the year from member partners:

• D.E.S.T.I.N.E.D. to Succeed, Inc. (D2S) held the YOUniquely Me! Girls’ Empowerment & Career Readiness program, which focused on social awareness, self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making and relationship skills.

• Urban Community Alliance’s executive director Shirley Ellis-West presented data from a study on the impact of violence on girls and women who live in New Haven, which found that violence is “pervasive in the lives of teen girls from distressed neighborhoods in New Haven.” Ellis-West shared how the network’s organizations can design interventions and support services. The study emphasized the importance of incorporating teens’ perspectives on violence into training programs for adult professionals.

• Randi McCray, GOCMN facilitator and social justice educator, partnered with Brittany Baines, executive director of Network member Phenomenal I Am and project manager of the Governor’s Prevention Partnership. They developed and presented a two-day social justice workshop for young people on the weekend of Juneteenth, teaching them how to run their own social justice/activism webinars for their peers. McCray said that led to a number of young women joining Girls of Color Mentoring Network organizations.

McCray said she sees continued growth ahead because of the dynamic collaboration. “We have all of these individuals coming together,” she said. “We’re able to tap into their lived experiences to serve as visible proof of what is possible for young women.”

Adriana Rodriguez, SCOW’s executive director, noted how the Girls of Color Mentoring Network and collaborative events like STEM Day give girls and young women the chance to collaborate, network and make friends across communities. Jazmin Calvillo has been part of SCOW since she took part in a youth leadership program when she was a freshman. “It allowed me to improve my leadership and communication skills,” she said. “I’ve always been on the quieter side.” She volunteers at SCOW and at the CT STEM Academy where she works with elementary school students at family STEM events.

Being part of the Network exponentially expands the number of events and activities available to young women who are part of each of the member organizations. “That is so needed,” Rodriguez said.

“On a personal level, I’ve met additional colleagues I can reach out to for advice or to talk about grant opportunities or to find out what’s going on in their communities,” Rodriguez added. “We are all very grateful to the Fund for Women & Girls and everyone who helped spearhead this network.”

This story is part of the Winter 2023 edition of the Community Fund for Women & Girls' newsletter. An edited version also appears in the 2023 No. 4 edition of The Community Foundation's Connections newsletter.