Program Can Pay Off For Everyone Involved

By Annie Spielman, Communications

Amy Cherko, team leader for the Nebraska Environmental team and DEI Council chair, and Emma Schneider, an assistant engineer on the KC/SPF Water Resources team, formed their mentorship experience through a common theme of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Below they share their experience:

Q: What topics did you discuss?

Emma: Our discussions have all been insightful. We’ve had topics including setting boundaries, Latina heritage, authenticity, burnout, supervising and delegation, vulnerability, and worklife balance. Some of them have been things I wanted to learn for the future, but some of them were ones that I needed advice on at that time. I was able to have that conversation about identity and being a Latina and getting resources from Amy. I really loved that, that topic has been a lot of fun. Amy: I am Chicana and being able to share my identity and experiences with Emma has been wonderful. I also think being a woman on a technical team, I have been able to relate to Emma and some of her challenges as well.

Q: How were you matched?

Emma: Amy and I already knew each other through the DEI Council and it's also a part of Young Professionals to set up a mentorship. I jumped at the opportunity to have Amy be my mentor.

Q: What do you feel like you’ve learned from your discussions together?

Emma: Being able to go into our meetings and have a safe place to just talk about stuff that’s been going on in my personal or professional work. I’ve been able to take some of those conversations and bring them to my team. Our conversations have been the foundation for my team to move forward and just become stronger and it’s been really helpful in that aspect.

Amy: Being able to talk through these issues makes me reflect on scenarios or situations and gives me more confidence to show up the way I want to show up at work. Our meetings can serve as a respite for burnout. Just having this time with Emma once a month to connect feels really good to spend time together.

Q: What kind of results have you seen from this mentoring experience?

Emma: Confidence has been a huge thing. We’ve been able to have conversations about challenges I’ve encountered, and what I needed to do. I’ve been able to take that to my team and it’s brought us to a better place so we can continue doing good work. I don’t think those conversations would have happened if I hadn’t talked to Amy.

Amy: It’s given me confidence to move forward and think about how I want to show up as a leader for other people. I learn something more about myself every time we talk.

Q: Why would you recommend other employees join an Olsson mentorship program?

Amy: Taking that time to get clear on a situation or be a resource for others has been really great. There are plenty of people in Mentor Match to help you navigate any situation that you’re curious about. There’s a wide variety of results that you can get through your mentoring relationship.

Emma: I think it’s important to explore mentorships to learn more from people about the path they took to get to where they are.

Mentorship Video Stories

We celebrated mentorship last year with a series of videos in which our employees share their mentoring journeys. If you missed it, here’s your chance to revisit a few of these stories: https://olsson.wistia.com/medias/m5z5gf9r9u https://olsson.wistia.com/medias/iv9ynzpvne https://olsson.wistia.com/medias/9du5gfl6z6