The Leadership Investment: Mentor’s Walk

Story and photos by

The Leadership Investment: Mentor's Walk

at Denver City Park Pavilion benefiting The Leadership Investment at 7:30 - 11 am

The 7th annual Leadership Investment Mentors Walk took place at the Denver City Park Pavilion on Saturday, June 29, 2013. This unique outdoor 5K walk lends itself to an open discussion format where career wisdom and insight is shared by senior-level executives to career-minded individuals who eagerly seek advice for obtaining real life strategies.

Over a hundred mentors took part, pairing up with one or more mentees for a lively discussion, a mentoring exercise, and a 5k walk. Following the walk, all participants enjoyed a breakfast buffet with organic vanilla milk, Luna protein bars, apples, bagels and cream cheese, and Chick-Fil-A chicken breakfast sandwiches. Following breakfast, the attendees relaxed on the lawn using their keepsake blankets, donated by IQ Navigator, and enjoyed a raffle with prizes that included tickets on Southwest Airlines and mentoring and business services from local companies.

: Mentorship teams were challenged to bring a word to life, as the blue group does here with their assigned word, ‘inspire’

: Everybody likes to succeed, as demonstrated by the group exercise where team members took turns playing a supporting role and taking their turn running to succeed

: Diane Zile (left) with Cyndi Koan

: Board member Shannon Sisler (left) with Tim Swales and Kathryn Miks

: Next, mentorship teams gathered for group exercises

: Mentor Kristine Schneider talks with mentee Beyful Solomon

: Mentor Nancy Sullivan (right) discusses mentorship questions with mentees Erika Williams (left) and Tanya Bradby

: Jennifer Spykerman (left) with Micki Waner and Holly Wade

: While many mentors were matched with one mentee, some like Scot Lichty of Lockheed Martin mentored two or more mentees

: Attendees were given questions to discuss with their mentor/mentee in order to begin the discourse about communication

: Hilary Blair of ARTiculate: Real & Clear led the mentorship exercises, focused on communication

: Stacey Kelso outlined the schedule of events and kicked off the mentorship exercise

: Joanna Maurelli from Johns Manville recognized the contributions of the event’s sponsors

: Organizers of the walk get the rules straight

: Lauren Ford (left) with Jill Sanford and Jennifer Pohill

: Alain Paolini with Linda Valdez

: Lisa Thilker (left) with Shelly Harper and Rhonda Young

: Rena Gonzales (left) with Colleen Knoll and Molly Samson

: Lawrence Scicluna with Katherine Bair

: Judy Block (left) , Ellen Plese, Caroline Turner and Jennifer Wong

: Marty Lassen (left) with Catherine Etherton

: Carly Russo (left) with Gillian O’Brien and Nijah Fudge

: Candace Nolan (left) with Robin Szeliga, Jill Worsham and Janine Koury

: Nicole Maynard with Bob Wamboldt

: Susan Lubeck (left) with Sarah Barrett and Lida Citroen

: Concetta Palmieri and Jill Tietjen

: Mentors and mentees greet each other in color-coded tents, creating teams

: The Mentor’s Walk was supported by sponsors including Public Service Credit Union, Johns Manville, Accenture, Western Union, and United Launch Alliance

: Over 100 executives from local businesses gathered to serve as mentors for the 2013 Mentor’s Walk in City Park

: Mentors arrived and gathered for greetings and discussion before the walk

: Members of the 2013 Mentor’s Walk committee gather to celebrate a successful event!

: Stacey Kelso (left), Joanna Murray and Joanna Maurelli pose with Southwest Airlines ticket winner Lori Papierniak

: Joanna Maurelli selects a raffle winner

: Stacey Kelso reveals the next great raffle item up for grabs!

: Patrick Hiester of BizPsych gave away an executive coaching session to raffle winner Dawn Lewin

: Carl Grismore of Effect-us Coaching gave away two one hour coaching sessions to raffle winners Susan Smith and Laurie Nelson

: Brenda Abdilla of Management Momentum (center) gave away copies of her book, ‘What’s Your Lane?’, to winners Amanda White and Rachel DeLoach

: Lita Citroan gave away a copy of LIta360, her book on creating and maintaining your reputation

: Southwest Airlines ticket winner Trista Bufalino (left) with Joanna Murray

: United Launch Alliance, Accenture, Western Union and Johns Manville were presenting sponsors of the event.

: Public Service Credit Union was the event’s lead sponsor, and Johns Manville was a presenting sponsor

: The Mentor’s Walk provided many great opportunities for discussion between mentors and mentees, even long after the walk was over

: Brian Shamas and Debbie Whaley relax on their blankets, sponsored by IQ Navigator

: Attendees enjoyed their breakfast in the shade of the tents, using the blankets donated by IQ Navigator

: The terrace at the Denver City Park Pavilion provided a relaxing spot to enjoy the post-walk breakfast and conversation

: Walkers arrived back at the City Park Pavilion and grabbed a great breakfast, provided by in-kind sponsors

: Yvonne Myrick (left), Steffie Allen, Vesper Tanaka and Cora Hall enjoy the post-walk breakfast

: Chick-Fil-A provided breakfast chicken sandwiches

: A cozy blanket for sitting on the grass was given to all attendees, sponsored by IQ Navigator

: The breakfast spread included fresh apples, Horizon organic vanilla milk, Luna protein bars, bagels and cream cheese, and Starbucks coffee

: The 2013 Mentor’s Walk provided a unique open discussion format during a 5k walk around City Park, pairing senior-level executives with career-minded individuals looking for advice