Black, White Female CU Professionals Pair Up for Pilot Mentoring Program

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According to the African-American Credit Union Coalition, mentors in workplaces are more likely to pair up with professionals of their own culture, leaving many Black professionals steps behind whites in their pursuit of occupying the C-suite. This limitation is what triggered the AACUC to launch the pilot mentoring program “1-to-1Woman,” which matched nine white female credit union executives with nine Black female rising professionals to form a mentoring relationship over a four-week period.

The white female executives were assigned as mentors for the Black women, who were selected based on merit, education and credit union industry experience, the AACUC said. Participants received a workbook containing weekly topics, which were related to professional development, race/cultural bias and gender similarities and served as a springboard for conversations, according to the organization. Pairs were encouraged to meet twice a week, and all meetings took place virtually as the participants were located in different states and time zones.