Guía Collective Mentorship Career Accelerator Program

The Guía Collective Career Accelerator Program is a 12-week program that pairs pre-career women of color and gender-expansive POC mentees with mentors working in product.

Introducing our Spring 2023 Accelerator Cohort!

A huge welcome to our Women-of-Color and gender-expansive POC mentors and mentees, as they embark on a 12-week program focused on mentees’ soft-skill building, professional refinement, and securing mentees product roles!

Savannah Chae
Mentee

Minjee Song
Mentee

Dara Hartley
Mentor

Carolina Treviño
Mentor

Maureen Be
Mentor

Jeanmarie Levy
Mentor

Aliza Cohen
Mentee

Pou Dimitrijevich
Mentor

Verenice Ramirez
Mentee

Thelma Idiong
Mentee

Overview

Women of color and/or gender-expansive POC are systematically excluded and under-represented in product, and even more in product leadership. We aim to change the product space.

Bootcamp systems & accelerators focus largely on technical skill-building, but not soft skills needed to be hired during the interview cycle & thrive once entering tech.

Women of color and gender-expansive POC lack other women of color and gender-expansive POC mentors in tech, which could impact advocates for advancement and clear steps for career development

Pre-career professionals coming in through alternative routes (outside of college programs) lack career development resources to onboard confidently, resulting in imposter syndrome and hindering career progression.

How do we solve this problem?

By providing pre-career women of color and gender-expansive POC with consistent mentorship and coaching in soft skills, they will successfully obtain their first job in tech, develop increased confidence, and become future leaders in the space for others

Through this program, mentees will have the opportunity to:

Develop skillsets

Develop skillsets to interview and successfully enter tech through a semi-intensive career-development program.

Make connections

Make connections, network, and learn alongside a cohort of talented and determined mentees in safe learning enviornment.

Learn from a mentor

Learn from a mentor who is a seasoned, experienced industry professional. Our mentors aim to cultivate honest and authentic spaces to combat imposter syndrome.

Grow your confidence

Our program uses an asset-based framework where we celebrate your skills, stories, and experiences. We know you have so much to offer and we want to help you shine.

Curriculum

Learn with a community.

Our Career Accelerator program provides a cohort of mentees with safe relationships with mentors who provide actionable guidance in their careers. We support mentees through all stages of the interview process, from application to negotiation.

Our program is made of three components: workshops, mentor meetings, and office hours.

Workshops occur weekly for 1-hour and cover the content for the week’s theme over Zoom. Workshops will be led by seasoned, industry professionals.

Mentor Meetings are scheduled based on the mentor and mentee’s availability and last for 1-hour via Zoom. The agenda of these meetings are set by the mentee.

Fireside Chats and Office Hours are optional and also occur weekly. Fireside chats are an opportunity to get to know your cohort, and Office hours are an opportunity for mentees to get additional feedback from a seasoned, industry professional.

Time commitment and program

Outside of these meetings, mentees will be to work on their materials and complete preparation work. We estimate this program to require a 4-5 hour commitment per week for mentees, and 1-2 hours per week for mentors.

We’ve split up our program into three chapters: foundation, application materials refinement, and interview preparation, including soft skill development, portfolio and resume review, and case study and whiteboarding practice. 10 of the 12 weeks include weekly workshops, and the last 2 weeks can be personalized to the needs of the mentee in collaboration with their mentor.

    • Explain the program goals, outcomes, and expectations

    • Examine their communication skills and identify areas of strength and improvement

    • Develop confidence in communication skills through practice

    • Develop an understanding of what they want to prioritize in their roles: environment; financial/non-financial; growth

    • Reflect on where they are currently in their UX journey through provided questions

    • Describe the different factors a candidate can consider in the job search

    • Reflect on which factors feel most important and rank them into different priorities

    • Create a personal list of priorities in the job search

    • Describe the traits of a successful portfolio

    • Analyze their portfolio to pinpoint areas of improvement

    • Organize portfolio to demonstrate skills and strengths and incorporate storytelling

    • Identify different components of a resume and the various ways a resume can be structured

    • Distinguish which styles of resume will highlight the candidate’s strengths

    • Create resume edits that highlight candidate’s strengths and skills

    • Understand the role of case study walkthrough in the interview process and define traits of a successful case study

    • Compare different case study walkthroughs and identify characteristics that resonate

    • Design or refine a case study walkthrough that exhibits the unique skills and strengths of the candidate

    • Explain how UX Designers, PMs, Developers, and Business Analysts work together

    • Distinguish the ways a UX Designer can be mindful of these partnerships in their design process

    • Develop and articulate a personal philosophy of how to effectively work with different partners

    • Describe the different types of interview questions and the various ways to answer them

    • Apply the STAR method to answering interview questions, incorporating personal philosophy and storytelling

    • Create a reference sheet of answers using the STAR method that the candidate can quickly reference

    • Understand the role of whiteboarding in the interview process

    • Differentiate different approaches to answering whiteboard exercises and selecting which approach best suits the candidate

    • Develop confidence in whiteboard exercise through practice their peers and mentor

    • Reflect on journey through MVP accelerator and identify areas the candidate has improved in

    • Evaluate different areas of continued growth and improvement

    • Design a plan of how to continue to approach the job search

Meet your Coaches

Who will you be learning from?

Your primary program coaches are queer Women of Color with decades worth of combined experience in tech and career coaching.

Arnelle Sambile (she/her) is a UX Designer at PowerMyLearning.

Arnelle is committed to training designers who are mindful of how power, privilege, and oppression shape design. Previously, Arnelle was an educator and educational researcher where she worked to understand the role of identity in product development and support folks of color breaking into tech.

Sarah Lin (she/her) is currently a Senior Design Manager at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the founder of the Guía Collective. Sarah previously led design at Google, Yammer (Microsoft), and was the founding designer at biotech startup Benchling.

She specializes in product strategy and design for social impact organizations and is a mentor for women of color in tech.

The program’s guest coaches and mentors also have diverse, storied backgrounds in tech as Women of Color and gender-expansive POC. We will be announcing our mentors at our Career Accelerator Information Session taking place on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, from 6:00-6:30 PM PT/9:00-9:30 PM ET, after our Portfolio Review Event.

Be sure to join!

Program Details

Some dates to keep in mind.

We do our best to work with your schedule. All workshop sessions are held on Zoom and take place in the evenings, while mentor meetings will be arranged between the mentor and mentee.

November 2022

  • 1st: Mentor and Mentee application opens

  • 15th: Mentor application closes

  • 22nd: Program info session and mentors are announced

  • 30th: Mentee application closes

December to January 2023

  • Dec 1st - 16th: Cohortees and Mentors program interviews

  • Dec 19th: Mentee extended offers

  • Dec 21st: Enrollment agreements due

  • Jan 6th: Deposit due

February to April 2023

  • Feb 1st: Program officially begins

  • April 28th: Program ends

Commitment to accessibility and equity

Women of color and/or gender-expansive POC are historically underpaid in product roles and tech across the board. We pride ourselves in providing a high-quality program that treats our mentors equitably for their time and efforts, while also making the program accessible in comparison to other career preparation programs. The total program is $1250.

There are a few ways to pay for the program:

Up-Front

After being invited to the program, you provide the full contribution amount of $1250 through our secure contribution method.

Split Contribution

Pay half before the program starts ($625), and half when you’re halfway through ($625).

Scholarship

We understand that cost can be a barrier and want to do our best to support you. To support our low-income folks, we can award up to 3 fully-paid scholarships. The scholarship application can be found in the application.

Contribute-Forward

For low-income folks who aren’t rewarded a scholarship, we offer a plan that will go towards scholarships for future low-income cohortees. 20% deposit ($250) before the program starts, and the rest once you get your first job.

Application

Spots are filling up!

If you identify as a woman of color and/or gender-expansive POC and are Product design focused, we would love to help you take the next steps in your career and invite you to take a look at the criteria.

Deadlines

Mentor applications closes on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 11:59 PM PST.
Mentee applications closes on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 11:59 PM PST.

  • You’re a great fit as a Guía mentee if you:

    • Identify as women of color and/or gender-expansive POC

    • Are Product design focused

    • Have gone through training already for product design and have a portfolio (through a 4-year program, Springboard, GA, etc)

    • Do not yet have a job or job offer and will begin looking in 2-3 months

    • Are motivated and passionate

    • Are seeking mentorship from women of color and gender-expansive POC

    • Are able to make a 12-week commitment to the program, (additional 12-weeks optional), an estimated 4-5 hours a week from February to April 2023

    Ideally but not required:

    • Low-income

    • Do not have access to a supportive network in tech, or have been navigating the tech industry with little support

  • You’re a great fit as a Guía mentor if you:

    • Identify as women of color and/or gender-expansive POC

    • Work as a product designer, researcher, or manager

    • Have 5-10 years of experience in the field

    • Are motivated to coach and mentor

    • Are able to make a 12-week commitment to your mentee (additional 12-weeks optional). We estimate 1-2 hours a week from February to April 2023 (1hr meeting with mentee, 1hr prepping)

    • Have lived experience of navigating systems in all or some of the following: education, tech, product, workplace and career, etc.

    • Have a social justice lens:

      • A commitment to restorative justice, harm reduction or trauma informed care, asset and strengths based practices, cultural humility.

      • Excited to champion and center people of color in product, particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous women AND gender-expansive people.

      • Are self aware of their power and positionality, and continues to self-reflect, as humans are ever-evolving

FAQ

Have a question about our program?

We want to help you make the best decision for you. We encourage all prospective mentors and mentees to reach out with questions.

Please feel free to email us at info@guiacollective.org to schedule a consultation.

If you are interested in partnering with us, please reach out to partnerships@guiacollective.org.

  • We are able to accept up to 10 mentees in our inaugural cohort.

  • The Guía Career Accelerator Program was created by women of color & gender expansive POC, for women of color & gender expansive POC. Everything about the program was created with these lived experiences in mind. We aim to create a safe space where women of color & gender-expansive POC can be honest, authentic, and vulnerable.

  • We’re happy to help! Please feel free to email us or schedule a consultation. Please be sure to see Pricing above for information.

  • If you are interested in leading a workshop or being part of our office hours, please feel free to reach out!

    You can also donate to us, which will help us cover program costs.

  • All donations will go toward our programs and organizational costs. If you would like to sponsor a mentee or donate, please email us at partnerships@guiacollective.org.

  • All of our mentees are selected through an application and interview process, and all of their materials will be reviewed by a seasoned, industry professional. We will be featuring all of our mentees on our website once they are selected for the program.

    Our company partners are an integral part of our program. If you would like to be part of the hiring event, please reach out to us at partnerships@guiacollective.org.