StateraArts Announces Mentorship Chapter In New York City

New York City Mentorship is at the core of StateraArts' mission of taking positive action to bring women into full and equal participation in the arts. The national launch of Statera Mentorship was announced in October 2018 at Statera's International Conference in Milwaukee, WI. Since the announcement, regional chapters have exploded across the United States.

Melinda Pfundstein, Statera's Executive Director, said, "Professional mentorship for women is a positive, proactive, and proven way to counter gender imbalance in the workplace. And we're thrilled to share that Statera Mentorship now has a chapter in New York City."

Statera Mentorship is under the leadership of national co-directors Erika Haaland and Minita Gandhi. The New York City Chapter was founded by Meridith C. Grundei. Grundei is joined by an outstanding team of regional coordinators: Mara Jill Herman, Rachel Spencer Hewitt, Alex Marrs, and Sayantee Sahoo! To learn more about the New York team, visit the Statera Blog.

The duration of each mentorship class is 6-months. StateraArts runs the program from January-June and July-December. In addition to one-on-one engagement with a mentor/mentee, each Mentorship Class enjoys a networking mixer with the entire class.

While classes are already underway in Chicago and North Carolina, newly formed chapters will start their first class of mentorship pairings on July 1, 2019. New chapters include Boston Area, California Central Coast, Dallas/Fort Worth, Ithaca, Iowa, Los Angeles, Louisville, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern Texas. And plans are already in the works for chapters in Atlanta, Milwaukee, Salt Lake, Southern Oregon, and Southern Utah.

Applications to participate in the next class are due by June 1, 2019. Visit www.stateraarts.org/mentorship to select your region and apply. Have questions about Statera Mentorship? StateraArts provides an FAQ page: www.stateraarts.org/mentorship-faq.

Lia Mortensen, a 30-year veteran actor in Chicago, went through the program last year. She says she was thrilled to be a mentor and give back to women in the business. "There was nothing like this when I was starting out," said Mortensen. "Not only has it been an intensely rewarding experience to help my mentee in all areas of Chicago theatre, but I also discovered the wealth of knowledge I have attained over the years and the immense value of it."

Dates: The next class runs from July 1 - December 31, 2019

Mentor/Mentee Application deadline: June 1, 2019

New York City Website: stateraarts.org/new-york-mentorship