I recently attended a retirement party for a good friend and mentor from the early days of my career. Like a lot of people, I graduated college without a clear sense of what I was going to do for work. Happily, I stumbled into a paid internship at the Bell Museum of Natural History in Minnesota that turned into a ten-year journey that shaped who I am today. Such formative years!

The retirement party reconnected me with old friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time—a lot grayer, maybe a little wiser. But the main reason I went to the party was to raise a glass for my friend Scott. He was the director at the museum during my time there. He never officially mentored me, but all of us, especially those who work with young people, are shaping the future for others (for better or worse!).

Fortunately for me, Scott was an incredibly positive influence on me. He always had time for me. He gave me a seat at the table with the grown-ups. He trusted me with some pretty wild ideas. As a prominent ornithologist, Scott also turned me into a crazed bird nerd. I realized that everyone at the party felt that they had been mentored by Scott (gasp! I wasn’t the only one?). When it was finally his turn to speak, he spoke about what he believed was the most important aspect of his job—knocking down barriers for young people so they could figure out their own path in life.It occurs to me that that philosophy aligns perfectly with the mission of the Friends Alliance—we aim to knock down the barriers to partnerships between national parks and friends groups so people can forge their own path to make the world a better place.

Informal mentorship has been a hallmark of the Friends Alliance since the beginning. For 25 years, seasoned and successful CEOs have always given back to groups that are just starting out. I was one of those Executive Directors just starting out when I stumbled upon the Friends Alliance 20 years ago.

I am delighted that the Friends Alliance began a formal mentorship program this summer. The inaugural class of 7 mentor/mentee matches had their first meetings in July, and we look forward to expanding the program over the next few years. The new program pairs senior Friends Group leaders with emerging talent across the Alliance network. Through intentional matching and structured conversations, the program is designed to strengthen the next generation of philanthropic leadership and deepen the relationships that make our community so powerful.