Tuck Mentors is an organization dedicated to empowering undergraduate and MBA students to build meaningful professional relationships across the Dartmouth community. Formerly known as the Dartmouth Professional Insights Network, the program was founded in 2017 by Meghan McDavid D’10, T’18 and Alison Byrne Donnally T’18.
How can students get involved? (Both as a mentor and a mentee)
The best and most meaningful way to get involved is through our mentorship program. This program pairs a Tuck student with an undergraduate student based on any number of criteria of interest like career focus, background, hobbies, etc. The program runs a full year from one spring semester to the next so that undergraduate students have a mentor available to them as they prepare for and engage in their summer internships. This program is by application – submit one to tell us why you want to get involved with the program (either as a mentor or mentee) and we’ll set you up for the next round of pairings in the spring. We’ll announce when our applications are live.
There are also ways to get involved outside of the mentorship program. We’ll be hosting some career dinners later this winter and spring where we’ll connect Tuck students in a particular field with undergraduates who are interested in pursuing a career in that area. These events are open to everyone–no need to be a mentee to sign up!
"My mentee was navigating a situation at her internship and felt comfortable enough to call me and ask for advice on dealing with it. I felt very proud of the relationship we had built—that she chose to come to me for advice when she could have asked anyone."
Sammi DiBella
How are mentor/mentee pairings made?
Mentor/mentee pairings are made by hand by the Tuck Mentors co-chairs. We invite applicants on both sides to tell us what criteria would make a mentorship pairing most meaningful to them. While this is most often based on experience and career interests, we have also made pairings based on shared background, ethnicity, hobbies, LGTBQIA+ status, or even experiences like being a first-generation college student.
While it’s often clear how mentees benefit, how do you think mentors most benefit from the program?
Our mentors get as much out of the program as our mentees! People come to Tuck from a variety of backgrounds and are excited to share what they have learned with younger students entering the first stages of their careers. One of the Tuck admission criteria is to be encouraging and empathetic to others, and Tuckies are excited to leverage that quality to give back, particularly within the broader Dartmouth community.
Do you have a favorite memory from your time with Tuck Mentors?
Elizabeth: My favorite moment was when I walked down Main Street one day and caught a friend of mine from Tuck grabbing coffee with her mentee! The two were having a great conversation and knowing that we did our part to make that relationship happen was really exciting.
Joe: I’d say my favorite moment was hosting a career panel for the Dartmouth football team. We hosted a variety of career-related panels over dinner last year, but they all had to be on Zoom. Being in the room with everyone and seeing the undergraduate students’ eagerness to learn about careers and life after college was very energizing.
Stacy: My favorite moment from my time as a Tuck Mentor has been having the opportunity to build a relationship with my mentee. We were initially paired in the spring of last year, so we were only able to meet on Zoom since she was not on campus. We had some great virtual conversations throughout the spring and summer and were finally able to meet in person for coffee in the fall. It was great to hear about what was going on in the undergraduate world and share a little bit about what we were learning in our Tuck classes!
Sammi: My favorite memory was receiving a phone call over the summer from my mentee. She was navigating a situation at her internship and felt comfortable enough to call me and ask for advice on dealing with it. I felt very proud of the relationship we had built—that she chose to come to me for advice when she could have asked anyone. It was a very rewarding moment to see the purpose of the program really come to life.
How have you adapted the program during the pandemic?
We adapted our mentorship program by moving all meetings and events to Zoom. While it can be a challenge to build relationships in a Zoom room versus in person, we think everyone has risen to the challenge and found success. Additionally, we’ve been unable to host some larger events like career fairs or things of that nature, so instead, we’ve transitioned to smaller group breakout rooms on Zoom to facilitate some of that one-on-one discussion.
Do you have any upcoming programming or events?
We’ll be kicking off our 2022-2023 mentorship pairing process this winter. Our first event is our Tuck Tails kickoff event happening on February 10th. We’ll also be scheduling some undergraduate career dinners later this winter, so stay tuned for those as well.
Anything else you’d like to share?
If you’re even considering joining Tuck Mentors, as a mentee or a mentor, please give it a shot! It is a great way to get involved with the Dartmouth community, meet people you may not have met otherwise, and learn something new. We have gotten great feedback from those who have participated in the past, and we’d love to get even more people involved going forward. And as always, reach out to our group or to any of our co-chairs individually if you have questions.
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