Meaningful Connections

When Daniel Parker ’16 MS was a communications graduate student in 2016, he spotted a flyer on the Evanston campus for the Northwestern Network Mentorship Program. The new offering from the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) aimed to cultivate meaningful relationships between the University’s accomplished alumni and current students or recent grads.

Since signing up as a mentee, Parker has received wide-ranging career advice from alumni mentors in education, business and more. Parker, now a teacher’s assistant in the special education department at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Chicago’s western suburbs, is preparing to launch his own mentorship program.

“Northwestern’s mentorship program played a big role in shaping my thoughts on the power of meaningful connections,” says Parker. “It ultimately inspired me to build a system that connects high school seniors and recent graduates to mentors and real-world experiences.” He’s now putting up flyers around Oak Park to promote his fledgling nonprofit, My Hometown Hub, which aims to help students build up their personal networks and learn about new industries and careers in the trades.

Parker’s full-circle moment comes as the NAA celebrates the 10th anniversary of its mentorship program, which provides valuable support and guidance to students and alumni as they navigate their careers, explore new industries or consider graduate school. Since the program’s inception, nearly 7,000 students and more than 9,600 alumni representing industries such as law, finance and health care have participated. 

Alumni can join online as mentors or mentees, and students can also sign up as mentees. After registering, mentees can search for and request mentors who match their career interests. Mentors remain anonymous until they agree to the match. Once the mentor accepts an invitation, the pair sets up a meeting to discuss goals and expectations and the duration of the relationship, which may last up to six months. 

For mentees who want to learn more about an industry or career path with a shorter time commitment, the NAA launched Quick Chats last September. Quick Chats allow mentees to request a 30-minute conversation with a mentor. This feature offers more flexibility for those who seek career advice, industry insights or personal development tips. 

The mentorship program is one of several career-related offerings from the NAA. Others include the Northwestern Externship Program (NEXT), which provides a one-day job shadowing experience for students, as well as career webinars and the Northwestern Intersections podcast. The NAA also recently launched Alumni Industry Networks to help alumni build connections with fellow Wildcats who work in their fields. 

Parker has remained active in the mentorship program to this day. “It made an impression on me that these successful alumni want to give back,” he says. “I think that’s a great way to live, and that’s what I hope to do myself moving forward.” 

Learn more about the Northwestern Network Mentorship Program.