Asia Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) successfully held the APWiL Mentoring Program 3^rd Cohort Orientation on November 9.

The 3^rd Cohort is more than three times larger than that of the pilot program and involved four more mentoring peers than the 2^nd Cohort, 47 mentoring pairs from 24 institutions reflecting the interest and need from academics and universities alike. Of these 24 institutions, seven have participated in all 3 cohorts, 12 have participated in two of them, and there are five 5 newcomers this year.

The APWiL Mentoring Program is a year-long commitment matching a mentor and mentee from one of the participating APRU member universities to provide mentoring, and international and intercultural opportunities for the empowerment of aspiring women leaders within APRU. Empowerment remains an urgent task, given the persistent complex social and economic barriers to women’s advancement in leadership in academia.

“Each year, I say I’m truly excited about the APWiL Mentoring Program, and then there is a next year, and it’s bigger and larger and deeper,” said APWiL Co-Chair, Professor Joanna Regulska, Vice Provost and Dean of Global Affairs at UC Davis, in her opening remarks at the 3^rd Cohort Orientation.

“The program’s continued growth and additions of new participants underlines the need for this kind of investment in women leaders across higher education,” she added.

Regulska went on to note that APWiL is excited to partner with the 3^rd cohort participants and welcome mentors and mentees into the program: “I would like to formally welcome you, mentors, to the APWiL Mentoring Program. Thank you for volunteering your time and supporting the growth of the next generation of women leaders. And I would like to formally welcome you, mentees, to the program. We are so excited that you have decided to invest in yourselves and your futures” said Regulska.

APWiL Mentoring Program Manager, Kimberly Bellows, Intercultural Programs Coordinator at UC Davis, presented an overview of the cohort’s structure and important logistics explaining that mentoring pairs set their own schedule of at least bi-monthly virtual conversations as anchored by the Mentoring Agreement and Pre-Assessment form.

Mentors and mentees were then split into breakout rooms by role where expectations and logistics were discussed in depth.

APWiL Co-Chair, Professor Yvonne Lim, Associate Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement) at Universiti Malaya, encouraged participants by recalling that her mentor position in the pilot Cohort led to a meaningful and special friendship between her and her mentee, illustrating that the program is a great bilateral opportunity for both mentors and mentees to learn to grow and connect and to work across differences of all aspects.

“What my mentee was sharing with me made me reflect about the different stages in my own career when I was facing similar issues,” Lim said.

“I think it helped me to be more empathetic to colleagues who are at different stages of their careers. And this helps me to be a better leader and communicator” she added.

Time will tell what the next year holds in store for the third cohort participants. APWiL and everyone at APRU welcomes all new participants of the mentoring program and wishes them success in the year ahead!

APWiL Mentoring Program 3rd Cohort Participants

Mentor

• Megumi AKAI, Osaka University
• Kim BARRETT, University of California, Davis
• Kum-Kum BHAVNANI, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Alison BUTLER, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Leila CARVALHO, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Nikki CHUN, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
• Ivy CHUNG, Universiti Malaya
• Irma ERANA, Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Michele FORD, The University of Sydney
• Alisa FREEDMAN, University of Oregon
• Aya HAGISHIMA, Kyushu University
• Suzi HONG, University of California, San Diego
• Te Kawehau HOSKINS, The University of Auckland
• Lori IDETA, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
• Sooyeon KIM, National University of Singapore
• Sri KURNIAWAN, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Yeng Ming LAM, Nanyang Technological University
• Cassandra LEE, University of California, Davis
• Jeannette LEE, National University of Singapore
• Sang-Hee LEE, University of California, Riverside
• Yoon-Jung LEE, Korea University
• Huinan LIU, University of California, Riverside
• Ellis MENG, University of Southern California
• Susette MIN, University of California, Davis
• Juliana NG, The Australian National University
• Mee Kam NG, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Suzanne NIELSEN, Monash University
• Kyoko OHARA, Keio University
• Akiyo OKUDA, Keio University
• Stefanie Shamila PILLAI, Universiti Malaya
• Tracy POON TAMBASCIA, University of Southern California
• Thomas PREISS, The Australian National University
• Ma. Victoria RAQUIZA, University of the Philippines
• Jayashri RAVISHANKA, UNSW Sydney
• John RUNDLE, University of California, Davis
• Joanne RYAN, Monash University
• Celine Parreñas SHIMIZU, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Moon Jung SONG, Korea University
• Jiro TAKAI, Nagoya University
• Jemaima TIATIA, The University of Auckland
• Amaryllis TORRES, University of the Philippines
• Karla VALENZUELA, Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Adriana VERGES, UNSW Sydney
• Serena YANG, University of California, Davis
• Kristin YARRIS, University of Oregon
• Gillian YEO, Nanyang Technological University

Mentee

• Shana BROWN, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
• Frances BYRNE, UNSW Sydney
• Eunsu CHOI, Korea University
• Sohyun CHUN, Nagoya University
• Maritess CRUZ, University of the Philippines
• Jennifer DAN, University of California, San Diego
• Faithe DAY, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Irish Joy DEOCAMPO, University of the Philippines
• Micaela DÍAZ-SÁNCHEZ, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Ding DING, The Australian National University
• Rachael HAINS-WESSON, The University of Sydney
• Fiona HO, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Poh Choo HOW, University of California, Davis
• Tracy HUANG, UNSW Sydney
• Yoko IBUKA, Keio University
• Kaori IDEMARU, University of Oregon
• Sachiko KAZEKAMI, Keio University
• Vera KELLER, University of Oregon
• Hyejeong KIM, Korea University
• Kuriko KUDO, Kyushu University
• Charity LEE, Universiti Malaya
• Yanran LI, University of California, Riverside
• Nayeli MARTÍNEZ CONSUEGRA, Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Lauren MAY, Monash University
• Yujie MEN, University of California, Riverside
• Fernanda PENALOZA, The University of Sydney
• Radhika PRABHAKAR, University of Southern California
• Katherine RALSTON, University of California, Davis
• Uma RAVAT, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Alicia RILEY, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Carolina SENÉS, Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Yong Adilah SHAMSUL HARUMAIN, Universiti Malaya
• Shaheen SIKANDAR, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Nadia SINGH, University of Oregon
• Eunice TAN, National University of Singapore
• Jinna TAY, National University of Singapore
• Stephanie TEVES, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
• Eleanor VANDEGRIFT, University of Oregon
• Nicole VARGAS, The Australian National University
• Grace WANGGE, Monash University
• Chen-His WONG, Nanyang Technological University
• An-Min WU, University of Southern California
• Mao YAGIHASHI, Osaka University
• Xiao YANG, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Yizhao YANG, University of Oregon
• Xiao LUO, University of California, Santa Barbara

More information about APWiL Mentoring Program.