Sponsorship/Mentoring

Sponsors are advocates in positions of authority who use their influence intentionally to help others advance, while mentors provide advice, feedback, and coaching. Both are important to advancement as employees navigate the workplace and earn opportunities for growth.

  • Catalyzing
    2010 Catalyst Awards Reflections

    “If you want to understand the past, look at current conditions,” said PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi at last night’s Catalyst Awards Dinner, quoting an old Chinese proverb. “But if you want to understand the future, look at today’s actions.”

    All the great speeches and conversations about...

    March 25, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Mentor a Man—Change the World

    One of the world’s first mentors was a woman. Aptly, her name was Mentor.

    When Odysseus went to fight the Trojan War, he left the education of his son, Telemachus, to his old friend Mentor. What he didn’t know was that Mentor was actually Athena in disguise. As Mentor, she schooled and...

    April 27, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    Strike up the band! ForbesWoman called Catalyzing “an insightful blog,” and named it and the Catalyst website to its roster of the top 100 websites for women. Toronto hosted an inaugural G(irls) 20 Summit. Australia swore in its first female Prime Minister. Good news galore in this edition, but...

    June 28, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Women Save the World

    One by one, people are starting to get it. What’s good for women is good for the world.

    Last month began with the Women Deliver conference in Washington, DC on the economic impact of global maternal health. Then, days after the inaugural G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto, nearly 40 CEOs endorsed a UN...

    July 6, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    In the early days, men dominated the Internet. Now more women than men use it for shopping and social networking. Details about the shift, plus news about the corporate leadership gap in South Africa, a new “sneaky” form of sexism, and tales of 40 women who have made strides in business, are...

    August 2, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Be Somebody—Get Sponsored

    I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too? --Emily Dickenson

    - - -

    How does a nobody become a somebody? By being sponsored.

    Sponsors are like mentors—except they advocate for advancement. The latest Catalyst research on the careers of more than 4,000 M.B.A. graduates shows that more women...

    August 17, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    The Ropes

    This just in: the latest Catalyst research highlights deep challenges—and potential solutions—for women seeking to climb the corporate ladder.

    For the fifth year in a row, our Census of women leaders in the Fortune 500 showed that women are stuck. Women hold only 14.4% of Executive Officer...

    December 13, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    Catalyst’s latest Census of female leadership in the Fortune 500 and our report, Mentoring: Necessary But Insufficient for Advancement, received strong media coverage last week. Below are two clips highlighting the new research. Also in C This, new studies point to the challenges that Indian...

    December 20, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Holiday Wishes

    To mark the end of 2010—and my final Catalyzing post until January 2011—I asked my colleagues at Catalyst what they wish for in the days ahead for women and work. Here are Catalyst’s top ten wishes for 2011:

    We wish for…

    10. Inclusive, agile work cultures that reward results rather than...

    December 22, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Voices on Road to Equality

    One year ago, we launched Catalyzing with the belief that until women achieve parity in business leadership, we will be marginalized in every other arena. More than 70 blog posts and 65,000+ page views later, we’ve only scratched the surface.

    What gives me hope amid entrenched pay and leadershi...

    February 3, 2011 by Ilene H. Lang