Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit and the U.S. State Department have joined forces for the fifth global Women's Mentoring Partnership. The event started April 26th and will run through May 20th. This public-private partnership connects over 50 of America's senior women executives from more than 30 companies with emerging women leaders from around the world. The program has more than doubled in size since 2006, with 33 emerging women leaders participating this year.
The three-phase program opens with an orientation session in Washington, where the participants meet with senior women in U.S. government, including Maria Otero, Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs; and Melanne Verveer , Ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues, among others.
During phase 2 of the program, international participants are paired off with one or more of Fortune's Most Powerful Women Leaders. Among this year's mentors are Ann Moore, Chairman and CEO at Time Inc.; Susan Chambers, Executive Vice President in the Global People Division at Wal-Mart Stores; Margaret Mattix, Suzanne McCarron, and Terri Fariello, all in senior positions at ExxonMobil Corporation; and Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at Google, Inc. For 3 weeks, American and international participants will work together in mentoring relationships to share the skills and experiences necessary for strengthening women's leadership.
The program concludes in New York with workshops on media and communication strategies and meetings with senior executives from New York-based companies.
During the month, Fortune's Most Powerful Women Leaders share their time, talent, and expertise in business with the next generation of women leaders. There are now more than one-hundred alumnae of the program. The professional and personal ties that grow out of the mentoring relationships last well beyond the month-long program and enable the international participants to bring change to their companies and communities.
Over fifty of America's senior women executives from more than thirty companies connect with emerging women leaders from around the world.