|
New
Mentoring Program Launched At The French Culinary Institute
By
Marylena Mantas
In
1993, when eight top female chefs and restaurateurs founded Women
Chefs and Restaurateurs (WCR), they built the foundation for the
advancement of women in their industry. Today WCR provides more
than 2,000 women membership in a national association offering
concrete benefits, including the opportunity to be mentored by
prominent women in the culinary industry.
“WCR’s
foundation has been built on informal mentoring. As we near our
10th anniversary year, we wanted to formalize the mentoring
process into a structured program for our members,” said Ann Cooper,
WCR president.
WCR officially launched the Culinary Women’s Mentor Program in
Manhattan’s French Culinary Institute in a recent reception bringing
together more than 80 women chefs and restaurateurs. Among the
outstanding restauranteurs in attendance was Barbara Lazaroff,
wife of Wolfgang Puck.
“The
program is helping speak to our mission of helping women in the
industry,” said Cooper during the ceremony, adding that the combination
of programs provided by WCR are not replicated elsewhere in the
industry and “that speaks to the power of women.”
Approximately 140 WCR members will act as mentors, all of whom
were selected by the Mentorship Committee, co-chaired by Lisa
Capozzi and Anne Quatrano. Eight to 10 “mentees” have been assigned
to each mentor. Mentors and “mentees” will meet in person at least
twice a year and will communicate by email. In addition, Alice
Waters, owner and chef of Chez Panisse and a leader in the culinary
industry and Julia Child, will conduct e-mail mentoring, answering
several questions, which will be posted on WCR’s website.
“You
all accepted this challenge and I’m sure that you are not taking
it lightly,” said Dorothy Hamilton, CEO and founder of The French
Culinary Institute, who also introduced the keynote speaker, Matilda
Cuomo, former first lady of New York State and the founder of
Mentoring USA.
Introducing Cuomo, Hamilton said, “Athena, the goddess, started
mentoring, but it took a New York State goddess to resurrect mentoring.”
Cuomo spoke of her own experiences with Mentoring USA and emphasized
the importance of building successful mentoring relationships.
“I
know what you’ve been through. I know women have to struggle to
get to high places, but now we help each other,” said Cuomo. “When
you help someone it just uplifts your spirit. A mentor lives with
that experience of knowing that he or she has made a difference
in someone’s life.”
WCR hopes to expand the Mentoring Program next year. According
to Cooper, it also hopes to increase its membership, which now
includes women from every sector of the culinary industry, including
beginning restaurant professionals, chef/restaurant/culinary professionals,
executive members, small business members and corporate members,
to 5,000. Other programs and activities organized by WCR include
an annual conference, scheduled to take place in the fall of 2002
where several women are honored with “Women Who Inspire Awards.”
In addition, WCR sponsors several scholarship programs, cooking
classes, lectures and conferences.# www.chefnet.com/wcr
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
|
