Want to pitch national magazines, break into book writing, make the move from staff to freelance or from institutional writing to journalism? Then, the NSWA Mentorship Program is for you!
Do you have a special skill or talent, been around the science writing block a few times, or want to pay it forward? Then, the NSWA Mentorship Program is for you!
Do you need someone to bounce ideas off of, review pitches before you hit send, keep you on track to meet your goals? Then, the NSWA Mentorship Program is for you!
The NSWA Mentorship Program is designed to foster knowledge-sharing and community among members, to share career advice, and grow in their professions. You can do this by becoming a mentor, a mentee, both a mentor and a mentee, or as an accountability partner. There is something for everyone. You just need to be committed to sharing your knowledge and experience and to attaining your goals.
To participate in the program, you must be a current member of NSWA, who is willing to work with your mentor/mentee/accountability partner. You can be at any stage in your career. You may be new to science writing, shifting from staff journalist to freelance writing, formulating a book proposal, getting ready to move from freelancing to teaching, or anywhere in between.
You are welcome to apply to be a mentor, mentee, both mentor and mentee, or an accountability partner.
We attempt to match mentors, mentees and accountability partners based on similar interests and occupations.
A mentor is someone who would like to coach or guide a person who is interested in changing careers or is new to the field. This may look like—among other things—fielding technical questions, reviewing pitches, giving feedback, or discussing career planning.
A mentee is someone who would like guidance from a mentor who has more experience in a particular career or aspect of science writing. The mentee may be new to science writing or already experienced in one area and looking to transition or expand into another. Mentees should have an idea of the types of things they want to work on, or talk about.
A mentor and mentee is someone who elects to sign up to participate in two separate relationships, as described above.
An accountability partner pairing is a partnership where each member mutually agrees to coach and support each other, keep each other on track and committed to individually identified goals, while providing feedback along the way.
Benefits of program
- Foster connections
- Share advice
- Ask questions
- Grow your skills
- Develop professionally
- Personal accountability
What’s involved?
We ask that you meet with your mentor, mentee or accountability partner monthly over the course of a year and communicate a few times by email, phone or Zoom. We will be offering several mentorship events to meet others in the program, including an initial virtual meeting of all the Mentoring Program participants on June 23. Finally, we ask that you make this Mentorship Program commitment a priority.
Application: The online application is currently accepting mentors/mentees/accountability partners.
Questions? Contact NSWA board member Michael Bradbury at mentorship@nwscience.org