Health Equity Scholars Program

Become a Mentor

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Volunteer your time and talents

Mentorship is a great way to be engaged with Brown University, the School of Public Health and the rising generation of public health leaders! Express interest in becoming a Mentor by filling out this form.

Become a Mentor

Our goal is to recruit a wide and diverse mentor pool so that we can expose our students to an array of public health opportunities and help them create a professional network that will support and uplift them throughout their careers.

Since the founding of the Health Equity Scholars program, mentorship has been central to our mission and our objectives. We welcome mentors from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. The most important qualification is the willingness to share your time and talents with our Scholars!

Why Become a Mentor?

Mentorship is a great way to be engaged with Brown University, the School of Public Health and the rising generation of public health leaders!

Mentorship provides benefits for both the mentor and mentee. Our students report feeling supported and encouraged by their mentors. They have been connected to public health leaders and opportunities that they may not have known about. Mentors provide important exposure to a wide range of public health careers, and can help students define and refine their career goals. 

Being an HES mentor also provides you with the opportunity to deepen your own professional network. Virtual and in-person events allow mentors to gather, make connections and share their experiences. Serving as a mentor can be an energizing experience, giving you a chance to reflect on your career progression, your accomplishments and what you’ve learned along the way. Our mentors have shared the satisfaction they’ve found in helping—and learning from—young professionals at the start of their public health journeys.

Express interest in becoming a Mentor

Process & Responsibilities

We recruit mentors from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds: public health, medicine, industry, nonprofits and academia. Some have an affiliation with Brown, but others volunteer because of their experience with issues of health equity and their desire to support young public health leaders. We hope you will join us!

All interested volunteer mentors first meet with a member of the HES leadership team so that we can learn more about volunteers’ interests and experience. Once a volunteer is approved, they will either be matched with an incoming HES student or remain in the pool:

  • Some mentors will be paired with an incoming HES student. Pairings are done by the HES leadership and based on the students’ priorities, preferences, and career goals. Paired mentors are asked to mentor their student through the full two years of the MPH program. They are expected to have regular check-ins, with a frequency that the mentor and mentee can determine together.
  • Volunteers who are not paired with a student in a particular year will remain part of the mentor pool. Their contact information and background will be shared with the HES students and the volunteers may be called on for ad hoc requests such as networking, professional introductions or informational interviews.

We offer virtual events to allow mentors to meet with both students and other mentors, and we hope that the mentorship experience gives volunteers the opportunity to connect with other professionals and expand their network.

In the cohort’s second year, we host an in-person retreat that brings together the mentors and mentees for 2-3 days of leadership development, conversation and connection. The cost of travel and accommodations for the mentors is covered by Brown and the HES program. Traditionally, the retreat has been held in January; the date and location are shared in October.

 

Resources for Mentors

Current and prospective mentors can browse these self-service links to inform their approach to supporting and developing their HES mentee.

Essential Reads on Mentorship

Resources at Brown

First, you should always feel free to reach out to the HES program leadership; our contact information is below.

For your own information, we’ve shared some University and SPH resources below. Students are informed of these services during orientation but if you’re comfortable doing so, you may want to ask your mentee if they’ve explored the following resources:

Financial and Psychological Services

Egap

Graduate students have access to funds for emergency situations and urgent, unexpected financial needs, such as travel costs for family emergencies

Advising Services

Career Advising

The Career Advising section of the SPH website includes a wealth of resources, including checklists for new students and students preparing for graduation

Academic Services

Course registration, advising, academic support/tutoring, library and computing resources, conference funding, and other resources are available to students

More about the HES Program

The HES Leadership and Professional Development Program was designed in partnership with Brown’s School of Professional Studies. It delivers a transformative educational experience that builds on the students’ past experiences and prepares them to lead and influence others, no matter their title or position. The program provides a strong foundation that students can call upon as they progress in their careers and eventually move into positions of strategic leadership in their fields. Our goal is to build a learning community in which students are both supported and challenged.

Leadership Development graphic
Components of Leadership Development

As a result of this program, students will:

  • Have insight into the assumptions and beliefs they hold regarding leadership

  • Understand a broad range of leadership theory

  • Have greater insight into their leadership style, their values and their impact on others

  • Create a plan for continued professional development that includes goals and strategies for the advancement of their career

  • Demonstrate the skills to listen and give constructive feedback, manage difficult conversations, resolve conflict and create and lead highly effective, diverse, and inclusive teams

  • Understand and practice effective persuasive communication

  • Understand and apply strategies to assess the needs and concerns of stakeholders and mobilize groups to innovate and problem solve

As part of the HES program, all students are matched with a professional coach and receive four sessions per year with their coach. We believe that working with a professional coach is not just for current leaders; coaching is valuable at any age and any career stage. Introducing coaching to emerging leaders helps them define their values and goals and allows them to create a professional development plan that they can share with mentors and peers. Importantly, it also exposes them to the principles of coaching as a leadership skill that they can use with those they work with and, eventually, those they manage.

For some additional context, you can also watch this brief animated video, which the students watch together and discuss with the instructor.

While the specifics of coaching conversations are often held in confidence, we do encourage the Scholars to talk with their mentors about the leadership development goals and objectives that they discuss with their coach. Mentors can help to support the students achieve their goals by checking in on their progress and sharing the mentor’s own experiences of professional challenges and growth.

Volunteer your time and talents

Mentorship is a great way to be engaged with Brown University, the School of Public Health and the rising generation of public health leaders! Express interest in becoming a Mentor by filling out this form.