Black Collegian Career Center

Recognizing the importance of mentoring, GlobalMECCA Inc. headed by H. Roderick Robinson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer has announced plans for establishing the first Internet-based mentoring program called "MECCA Connection", designed to increase the number of African Americans entering top management positions in Corporate America. MECCA Connection will be featured on Globalmecca.com, the websource for GlobalMECCA, Inc. where it will link executives in various fields with young African-American professionals. Robinson states, "Internet-based mentoring is a perfect way to build bridges between the minority professionals of today and tomorrow.

While other sites have focused on entertainment-related topics, MECCA Connection underscores Globalmecca.com's focus on business and empowerment topics that reach the professional, upwardly mobile African-American wanting content that's powerful, useful and smart."

MECCA Connection plans to utilize the Internet to put professional and aspiring African Americans in touch with business executives across the country for advice as well as insight on professional goals and business leadership. The program will transcend traditional mentoring because of the shift from one-on-one sessions and the accompanying long hours to one of unlimited accessibility via electronic mail (e-mail). Additionally, the online initiative will provide a forum for mentors to assist mentorees to cope with the obstacles that could possibly hamper their professional growth while instilling the necessary confidence for success. This mentoring program will present an opportunity for mentors to personally share their accomplishments and downfalls, successes and failures, and lessons learned.

As the glass ceiling phenomena continues to impede the upward mobility of African Americans in corporate America, mentoring is increasingly becoming an effective tool to utilize. Although the corporate workplace can be intense and highly competitive, for the African-American professional in a white dominated work environment with little or no role models, ascending the corporate ladder to success has proven to be quite difficult, but not impossible. These factors surely magnify the vital importance of mentoring because of the multi-faceted benefits it provides. Bear in mind that mentoring can provide an effective support system, which can facilitate the adaptation process to the corporate environment therefore ensuring a smooth transition. It also fosters personal and professional growth, while improving one's networking and leadership skills.

Additionally, because of few role models of mainstream success in the African-American community to emulate from, naturally there can be a degree of unfamiliarity with the corporate culture. To adequately navigate through these tricky waters, mentoring can cover the misconceptions about race and corporate life as well as highlight some realities regarding internal office politics. James H. Lowery, who is recognized as one of the nation's leading diversity consultants for Corporate America, will serve as advisor and mentor coach to GlobalMECCA's mentoring program where he'll help to establish its mentoring base and draft its guidelines. He also serves as president and CEO of James H. Lowry & Associates, the only black-owned management consulting firm listed in the top 100. His firm specializes in diversity management and minority executive placement and has worked with some of the biggest and best-known companies, including Ford Motor Company, United Airlines, Baxter Healthcare and Otis Elevator.

Lowery says he'll identify strong leaders in the African-American business and non-profit community, assess their views on should be done and then branch out, creating a network so that mentorees can feel comfortable as they seek direction and guidance to success in their respective professions. The first phase of the mentoring program will involve building a vast network of leading business professionals across the country, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. "I've dedicated my whole life to mentoring professionals and as the first black hired at McKinsey & Company, mentors were instrumental to my success. Institutional wisdom held by successful African-Americans is just not being passed on (but) GlobalMECCA is now using today's most important communications vehicle, the Internet, to transfer hard-won lessons on to tomorrow's Black business leaders."

The mentoring program has already signed on leading African-American executives from high profile Fortune 500 companies. Darwin Davis, recently retired senior vice president at The Equitable, will be one of many leading African-American executives that volunteer their time as a MECCA Connection mentor. "Globalmecca.com's mentoring program will allow me to share the experiences and successes I've had in my career with a whole new generation of African-Americans looking for someone they can relate to," said Davis.

Lowery also says he has reached out to representatives from several prominent African-American organizations such as the Urban League, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, United Negro College Fund, The National Black MBA Association as well as the Executive Director of the White House Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) program, Catherine LeBlanc. "We're looking into how we can utilize the colleges and universities," explains Lowery.

He went on to explain that in his experience in developing mentoring programs at several firms, the disadvantages were evident when his contract ended but his time is still very much in demand. "Over the years, I've designed many mentoring programs but when I leave to build a mentoring program at another site, my time is still in demand. But with computers and the Internet, it has presented other ways to reach many people as fast and as comprehensive as possible, in order to give the best guidance and direction to those in need."

Lowery says mentoring can be very effective in dealing with the glass ceiling phenomena. He tells Minorities Job Banks, "I really feel going to the 21st century with the change of demographics and the development of technology, the captains of industry will become more color blind. Everything is about competitive advantage. You need good people who can solve problems and African Americans can solve problems just like everyone else. Unfortunately, so few of us made it up the ladder and we didn't have a class of mentors to help guide the earlier generation of African American professionals. Unquestionably one of the keys to success and getting up in the ranks is mentoring."