Mentoring it forward

Knowing first-hand the challenges immigrants face inspired Cynthia to become a Windmill mentor. “My parents are immigrants, and I saw their struggles. I saw the joy of coming to a new country and the sorrow and difficulties while adapting. Having someone who understands your reality can help you integrate and reach your goals faster.”

Cynthia’s parents immigrated from Haiti before she was born. Although she hasn’t faced the same challenges newcomers encounter, being brought up surrounded by a different culture made it somewhat challenging when entering the workforce.

Having a mentor helped Cynthia throughout her career, especially during the 11 years she has worked at Intact, a Canadian insurance company. From the time she started to present, with each position, Cynthia has been paired with a success partner – someone who has done the job and offers support.

When Cynthia received an email from Intact announcing they had partnered with Windmill Microlending to provide mentors for its Mentorship Program, she signed up.

Cynthia was paired with a Windmill client trying to decide between working in business analysis and project management, both disciplines she has experience with. Cynthia connected him with friends and colleagues who are business analysts, product owners and project managers to provide different points of view.

While working together, Cynthia helped her mentee discover that he wanted to become a project manager, and she is determined to help him reach his goal. Her mentee has decided to pursue a project management certification after Cynthia offered a clear picture of programs and certifications that would be best to complement his previous academic skills.

Being a mentor has been an enriching experience for Cynthia. Her greatest satisfaction is seeing that she is helping somebody realize their dreams by sharing her expertise and connections.

“Cynthia is a subject matter expert. She has helped me a lot to face the challenges in the business analysis/project management domain and prepare to overcome them. She has been forthcoming in introducing me to her peers, seniors and LinkedIn network. She is also guiding me to choose the best course/program for enhancing my knowledge and skilling up for the changes in the area of our work. In future meetings, we will be focusing on training and project management professional certification programs, as well as going through real-life examples of project management goals and challenges and how to tackle them to succeed,” indicates Debashis, Cynthia’s mentee.

For her contributions to the Mentorship Program, especially to her mentee, we want to recognize Cynthia as Windmill’s Mentor of the Month.