Empowering the next generation of business leaders
MentHER prepares CBE students for professional careers through mentorships, networking
By Rebecca Kirkman on March 28, 2023
Towson University business administration major Jillian Armstead ’24 has had plenty of opportunities to flex her entrepreneurship skills in the past year. With her mentor Mia Blom ’05, senior director of government and community affairs at Visit Baltimore, Armstead got behind-the-scenes insight into Baltimore’s hosting of the CIAA 2023 Men’s and Women's Basketball Tournament in February and supported the launch of a student membership for the Baltimore Tourism Association last fall.
These opportunities were possible through MentHER, a program that supports the growth, education and empowerment of women in the College of Business & Economics (CBE) as well as Baltimore-area high school students through mentorship and networking. It received one of five inaugural grants from the Tall-Wiedefeld Society at TU.
Mentorships like that between Blom and Armstead are the backbone of MentHER, which matches students with external mentors within the local business community to provide career-focused coaching.
“I think it is fantastic to be paired with a woman who is already in the business field and to have people to ask for advice that have been through the same things that you have,” Armstead says of the program. “My mentor especially has helped me with how to be more professional and has even helped me perfect my resume.”
A one-year program running from September to May, MentHER supports and prepares students for careers in business through workshops and presentations in addition to one-on-one mentoring sessions. Guided discussions focus on issues facing women—from financial literacy to exploring stereotypes and navigating emotions in the workplace.
After transferring to TU during the COVID-19 pandemic, Julia Grier ’23 found a much-needed community while learning virtually. Blom’s mentee during the 2020–21 program cohort, Grier continues to turn to her mentor as a sounding board.
“She’s a reliable person that I can go to with anything and there's no judgment, there's no shame,” says Grier, who navigated a change in major with her mentor’s help. “I would not be where I am today without Mia’s guidance,” Grier says. “Her mentorship has been a big part of shaping my experience at Towson University.”
Benefits of the mentorship go both ways.
For Blom, who is a fourth-year mentor in the program, participating is an opportunity to give back to the university and make an impact in young women’s lives.
“It's always fun to see the light bulbs go off when young people realize how they can apply what they're learning with what they are passionate about,” she says. “I believe in mentorship, and I believe in creating an ecosystem for women to thrive in their professional careers.”
As a first-time mentor, Erinn Degnan ’08, a certified public accountant and senior manager at accounting firm UHY, LLP, shares experiences with her mentee Selena Henriquez ’26 that she wishes she knew when entering the accounting field.
“I understand the value of helping others because, in my career, I've had mentors that helped me, so I want to pay it forward,” Degnan adds. “My goal is to support Selena personally and professionally.”
Henriquez, a first-generation college student, values having a mentor who has been in her shoes.
“I can ask her more tailored questions to my field, and she's always there to answer them,” she says, noting that she and Degnan were both accounting majors. “Now I know what to expect.”
The mentorship experience for students is cross-generational. In addition to their professional mentors, TU students in the program work with students from Baltimore County’s Lansdowne High School. Through workshops and activities, the TU and high school students discuss preparing for college and develop leadership and professional skills like problem solving and creative thinking.
“I learned that I had the exact same worries that they did about coming to college,” Armstead says. “Making friends, navigating the campus, and balancing schoolwork were all things that I could offer advice on because I learned them. It is nice to ease someone’s worry by demonstrating how you got through the process.”
It’s clear MentHER works. Participants have secured internships, negotiated raises, built their networks and social capital, and developed long-term mentorships.
Following the program motto, “level up our future together,” the MentHER cohorts are also learning to pay it forward.
“That’s what MentHER is really about—to realize if we work together as women for a common goal, we are more impactful than just one individual person trying to push for change,” Grier says.