INSPIRING WOMEN:

JVS’ WoMentoring Program Brings Women Together To Help Overcome Hardships In The Workplace

A celebrated author, psychotherapist/coach, and internationally recognized seminar leader, Dr. Tessa Warschaw is the founder of BTW UNLTD (Big Thinking Women), an organization created for women 50+. Its goals, like that of the WoMentoring program, are to help women: especially those over 50, shift the “aging” perspective; create legacies for others to follow; and become a recognized voice politically, socially, and economically for women over 50. In addition, Tessa has served on the boards of Break The Cycle, NAFE Foundation’s Esteem Team Mentoring Program, Madison Avenue Boys and Girls Club (Advisory Board), Women in Business, Women’s Advisory Board for Mass Mutual, and the National Museum of Women’s History.

JVS’ WoMentoring program has helped hundreds of women increase their job skills, network, establish career paths and discover new job opportunities. Each participant is paired with a mentor from the same professional field for one year, with whom she meets on a monthly basis. Both mentors and mentees undergo training on how to maximize the partnership.

Says program founder and JVS COO Claudia Finkel “We see a lot of women who have helped guide others all their lives, their children, their family, but didn’t know how to do the same for themselves. WoMentoring does just that, gives them a guide to help them figure out what they want to do, whether they’re just getting started in the workplace, or need to make a career change.”

Natalya Kuzmicheva had over 20 years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist in Russia and like many, came to the United States with the hope of applying her experience in the same field. But language barriers and the difference in culture made that difficult. With her children in college, Natalya also decided she needed to go back to school and was eventually accepted to the Educational Psychology Masters Program at CSUN. The JVS Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships to needy Jewish students, is helping fund her education. However, she still needed guidance in the American workplace. Her mentor Julia Kantor has a private practice as a therapist in Beverly Hills where she works with individuals and couples. She also speaks Russian fluently, having been born in the former U.S.S.R., and also offers counseling in Russian and French. With so much in common with Julia, Natalya is learning the ropes, and finally starting to live her American Dream.

A busy mother of four, Paula Rodriguez entered the WoMentoring program seeking to transition from part-time grocery merchandising to a career in the public sector that would provide families with enrichment and education, something she also wanted to do for her own family. With the help of her mentor Sara Levine, a marketing professional with an aviation firm in Santa Monica, she has returned to school and is taking relevant classes and gaining deeper knowledge of the field through informational interviews.

Funded by Union Bank and the Powell Family, WoMentoring aims to help participants achieve at least one career milestone -- such as a promotion, completion of a training program, obtaining a key interview or landing a job in their field of choice. If you are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please contact Bobbi Yanke at 818-464-3222 or Rachelle Cohn at 323-761-8888 x8876.

For more than 75 years, JVS has enhanced hundreds of thousands of lives with vital employment and career services. Each year, JVS helps more than 24,000 people through 15 locations around the Southland. A non-profit, non-sectarian organization, JVS works with city, state and county agencies to ensure everyone has access to the help they need, including career professionals, at-risk students, people with disabilities and newly arrived immigrants. For more information on JVS’ range of programs, please visit www.jvsla.org.