Why is the Fordham community so strong? For more than two decades, the Fordham Mentoring Program has been a powerful part of the answer.
Each fall, several hundred grads volunteer to connect with students looking for career guidance and advice. The program draws alumni across generations, at all stages of their careers.
With this year’s September 22 application deadline approaching, we caught up with three Rams—a writer, a cybersecurity expert, and a retired physician—to find out why they got involved and what the mentoring program means to them.
Their stories show there’s no single right way to be a mentor.
Ivy Raff: Handing Over the ‘Keys to the Castle’
A 2003 grad, Ivy Raff initially thought she wouldn’t be a good fit for the program. She had just left her job as a public policy professional to become a full-time freelance writer. But she had such fond memories of her own mentor that she wanted to pay it forward.
“I was just awed by her wisdom. It seemed like she had all the keys to the castle … and I realized that, you know, 22 years later, maybe I could look like I have the keys to the castle for someone else who’s just getting started.”
Keiran Elden, a junior majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in theology religious studies, said Raff’s experience and advice proved to be just what he needed.
Jeff Beazley: A Chance to Meet ‘Smart and Eager Students’
For Jeff Beazley, a 2013 computer science grad, mentoring is “a really great way” to “meet so many smart and eager students looking to get into the workforce.”
Now a director of IT and security at an investment bank, he loves sharing all the ways students can pursue a career in cybersecurity beyond programming.
He’s still in touch with Monica Jimenez, a 2022 grad, who said his early guidance on navigating a career was so effective that she didn’t even need to reach out to him again before accepting a new role as a cybersecurity consultant at EY.
Tony Mandour: Sharing ‘My Life’s Experience’
A retired physician, Tony Mandour was looking for a way to “give back a little bit” when he heard about the program.
His mentee, med-school-bound Sara Hammad, a 2022 Fordham grad, said she initially expected a “very career-focused” connection, but it evolved into a “truly holistic mentorship.” Mandour, a 1970 Fordham grad, found a new sense of purpose and “gratification,” he said, “by sharing with a younger individual my life’s experience.”
He offered some reassurance to any alumni wavering on becoming a mentor: “If you’re willing to really get into it, to make a difference in a student’s life and career, you’d be a perfect fit.”
Want to help a Fordham student navigate college and career?
Learn more and apply to be a mentor by September 22.
To get a deeper sense of the impact you can make, check out what some of last year’s mentor-mentee pairs had to say about their experiences. Video by Taylor Ha
