Good mentorship is vital to anyone on any career path – aviation included!  It is a fulfilling way to give back to those who are following in our footsteps.  This is why NGPA launched the ASCEND mentorship program to match NGPA members in a helpful mentor-mentee relationship.  

To learn more about the ASCEND mentorship program and how to participate as a mentor (or mentee!), click here.  

If you have a mentee who is applying to the NGPA scholarship program, here are some guidelines to help you cheer on your protégé: 

  • Refrain from joining the Scholarship Selection Committee.  SSC wants to minimize how often evaluators must recuse themselves over conflicts of interest.  Prevention is key to making it easy for SSC volunteers to ensure an ethical and fair scoring process.  If you *know* a mentee, friend or fond acquaintance is participating in the scholarship program, take that bow before taking the stage. 

  • Refrain from acting as your mentee’s agent with NGPA and SSC.  Just as filling out the profile is part of the mentee’s job, so is posing their questions to SSC.  Let them practice drafting professional emails and phrasing their questions, queries, and concerns.  Let them speak for themselves.  NGPA SSC’s policy is to not interact with individuals who are perceived to be acting as the agent for a family member, friend, mentee, etc. 

  • Ensure your mentees fill out all their applications by themselves.  The first step in advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community is being able to advocate for oneself.  Filling out the profile is an act of self-advocacy.  Let your mentee get this practice.  NGPA SSC’s policy is not to consider applications reasonably believed to be filled out by an entity other than the applicant.   

  • Provide feedback to your mentee.  Your mentees can export their Opportunity Profile from SmarterSelect and email it to you for your review.  Provide feedback and guidance, and of course, refrain from overhauling or completing the application for your mentee.  Let them know how you interpreted their choices of words, where you were confused, and where they need to do the work to gain and/or improve their “credentials” in key scoring areas.