My Zonta

Zonta International Mentorship

Great Girls Meet Great Women

Zonta International is pleased to announce that applications are open for the second generation of our Great Girls Meet Great Women Cross-Mentoring program that helps participants develop future mindset attitudes and skills, connectedness, ideas, and solutions for concrete professional and/or private challenges.

Cross-Mentoring 2023 Form

Learn more about the program from some of our pilot generation participants. 
 
Second Generation:
The Committee is seeking 60 women with diverse cultural, social, and professional backgrounds and of different generations from all six member continents.

As mentors:
30 Zontians

As mentees:
30 Young Professionals, Golden Z Club members, and awardees

Interested Zontians may submit their name for consideration from 1 May to 30 June 2023.
How do we Proceed?



Why Cross-Mentoring?
We refer to our Vision and Mission, particularly to:

‘Zonta International envisions a world in which women's rights are recognized as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential.’

‘Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy.’
… and we refer to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly to:


What are our Goals?

We establish relationships that foster:

  • mutual learning processes – both on professional and private levels
  • empathy, intercultural awareness and competencies
  • insights in professional roles in different contexts 
  • self-awareness and self–confidence
  • insights in a variety of options how a woman‘s life can unfold
  • the global ZONTA-network across generations, silos, sectors, borders and hierarchies
  • our innovative potential/concrete ideas

Who is Leading the Program?

Franziska Schult, Zonta Club Lübeck
Franziska Schult is a student of Mechanical Engineering and works in the development of medicine technology at Dräger in Lübeck/Germany, her focus is respiratory therapy. She won the Young Women in Public Affairs Award in 2012 in Verden/Germany and has been in contact with Zonta ever since. In 2019, after working as a paramedic for a few years, she moved to Hamburg/Germany to start university. Since then, she has been an active member of Golden Z Hamburg-Hanse and was president in 2020 and 2021. In 2023 she moved to Lübeck/Germany for further studies in the international Mechanical Engineering Masters program and is now member of the Zonta Club Lübeck. Her motivation is bringing people with various backgrounds together and share empowerment. She is looking forward to continue her commitment with Zonta especially during the new starting Cross Mentoring program.

Carola Schäfer, Zonta Club of Verden
Carola Schäfer is the leading physician of the healthcare (social security) office of the city of Verden as well as the deputy head of the healthcare office at the federal state level of Lower Saxony. Outside of her working life she organizes and supports for more than 12 years the Young Women in Public Affairs Award first at Zonta’s club, than at area, and district level. Carola Schäfer finds joy in discovering and encouraging young women that already show impressive honorary commitment. She likes to empower their further development by giving them access to Zonta’s diverse and inspiring network. With her husband, she lives with thousands of bees, they take care of as beekeepers. She has an adult daughter and son, and a granddaughter.

Yukiko Elisabeth Kobayashi, Zonta Club Hamburg
Yukiko Elisabeth Kobayashi is a psychologist with a focus on intercultural and developmental psychology. She has more than 20 years of leadership-, consulting- and start-up-experience in the fields of industry (aviation, international pharmaceutical industry), international NGO and social innovation. Since 2014 she initiates and leads transformation and innovation projects in the industry, science and society/public sector. Diversity plays - in all her projects - an essential role as a source of inspiration, innovation and impact. Her central point of reference are the SDGs. Ms. Kobayashi is a member of the advisory board of ImpactHUB Hamburg and part of the d.school/Stanford alumni network. She lives with her husband and three children in Hamburg/Germany. 

For questions please write to crossmentoring.zonta@gmail.com.