Just like it sounds, Mentoring Over Coffee is a chance to talk with a mentor for an hour over a cup of joe. This free meeting opportunity will coincide once again with the NATS biennial national conference this summer in Chicago, July 1-6.

The program costs “nothing but time” and facilitates connections between established and emerging professionals, to build a stronger sense of community for all.

Ian Howell (New England Conservatory) piloted the program, which was modeled after a similar initiative in the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, at the 55th national conference. In 2020, Howell passed the baton to Elizabeth Ann Benson (Auburn University) to continue running the program. During the 56th national conference, 83 NATS members signed up to be mentors, and 67 signed up to be mentees, resulting in over 170 mentorship pairings. The structured networking opportunities provided by the program were made even more valuable by the virtual format of the conference, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Benson is happy to coordinate the program again for 2022, and she believes it is a great example of the generous camaraderie of the NATS membership.

“This program celebrates the best of our membership’s enthusiasm for lifting each other up,” Bensons says. “It empowers young teachers to approach their heroes on a level playing field, and it also allows for the valuable practice of ‘reverse mentorship’ where established professionals can learn from emerging professionals in a mutually-beneficial exchange.”

How does it work?

A few weeks before the national conference, an invitation to participate is emailed to everyone registered for the conference. Those who sign-up as mentors are asked a few questions about their affiliations, area(s) of expertise, and how many mentees they can accommodate. Those who sign-up as mentees are contacted a few days later, given a list of available mentors (with the short bit of info describing each mentor’s expertise), and asked to select and rank mentors in order of preference. Mentees and mentors are then matched, and contact information is relayed to all participants. The pairs schedule their meeting directly, with the expectation that the meeting takes place during the conference. Mentors generously donate their time, and the cost for mentees is $0. If meeting over coffee, all parties are asked to purchase their own beverages.

What are people saying about it?

According to participants, frequent topics of discussion include education and professional development, work/life balance, diversity and inclusion, online teaching and learning, how to run a business/independent voice studio, how to navigate academic jobs, research, and advice about teaching or singing musical theatre, CCM, and classical styles. There were several tangible outcomes noted by participants including singing feedback, letters of introduction, editing of CVs, and the exchange of pedagogical resources.

Comments from mentees:

• “This was invaluable and I’m so grateful that this type of experience was coupled with the NATS programming.”
• “I was so blown away by the generosity of all my mentors.”
• “Since this was my first time attending the annual NATS conference I wasn't acquainted with the vast majority of participants. These mentoring sessions were a wonderful way for me to break the ice and establish a small network of colleagues.”

Comments from mentors:

• “I continue to believe this is a great part of the conference.”
• “Wonderfully simple, worthwhile, love meeting members.”
• “It's great to be able to help out. This kind of service is what NATS is about.”
• “I thoroughly enjoy meeting and speaking with our younger members. I wish this had been available when I was first starting out.”

Benson says that Mentoring Over Coffee is an ideal entry-level program for the many mentorship opportunities that NATS has to offer.

Mentor Edrie Means Weekly was paired with mentee Melissa Treinkman during the 2020 NATS Mentoring Over Coffee Program

The practice of mentoring not only embodies the association’s mission, vision, and values, but also galvanizes the NATS Diversity and Inclusion statement, “to be a welcoming and supportive community of members and students who celebrate the unique identities, varied backgrounds, and experiences of all individuals.”

Invitations to participate in the 2022 Mentoring Over Coffee program will be sent via email in June. If members are interested in more intensive and ongoing mentorship, they are encouraged to apply to the NATS National Mentoring Collective (NNMC), which runs twice per year. If you have additional questions about the program, please contact Elizabeth Ann Benson.

Not registered yet for the NATS 57th national conference? Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be part of the Mentoring Over Coffee program and many more wonderful networking and professional development experiences. Check out the full lineup.

Dr. Elizabeth Ann Benson is recognized as a dynamic scholar, pedagogue, and performer. Her book, "Training Contemporary Commercial Singers" is hailed as “a remarkable and long-awaited contribution to the world of voice pedagogy” (Journal of Singing). She has published research in Voice and Speech Review, Journal of Singing, and American Music Teacher. She is an associate professor of music theatre voice at Auburn University, and she is the founder and owner of Benson Music Studios, specializing in voice training for musical theatre, popular, and contemporary singers and teachers. She was a 2016 NATS Intern and currently serves on both the National Mentoring Initiatives and Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives committees.