Thirty years of research by Catalyst, a premier information source on women in the workplace, confirms that mentorship is the top reason why men tend to rise higher then women in their careers. According to Sheila Wellington, President of Catalyst, mentors are "more important to career success then hard work, talent and intelligence." WITI acknowledges those women who have found creative ways to reach out by making mentorship one of the award's key criteria for winning. Each of the Chicago chapter's winners of the "Excellence in Corporate IT Leadership" Award understood that their leadership role included counseling others on their journey.

There are many channels to establish a mentoring relationship. Seeing homelessness as a critical issue, Barbara A. Zeller, Vice President of Information Technology at both Nicor Inc. and Nicor Gas, is currently active with Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS). She has been a volunteer at the homeless shelter since 2002. Very involved in her church, she has also been an Our Lady of the Wayside Religious Education Program teacher for 8th grade religious education since 1998. Both of these venues have created powerful relationships in ways that are meaningful for Barbara and uplift those around her.

One mentorship venue for Awardee Susan Malisch, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Loyola University, is MENTTIUM® Corporation. MENTTIUM® Corporation pairs high-potential women with senior executives from various organizations and industries. A second mentoring channel important to Susan is mentoring through sports. She was a mentor to young women in collegiate basketball as Head Women's Coach for Fontbonne University from 1989-1993, Assistant Women's Coach at Cal-State Northridge in 1995, and most recently as a volunteer coach for 7th and 8th grade girls at St. Mary of the Woods School in 2002 and 2003. Currently, she is a volunteer coach for grade school teams at the Chicago Park District for her two older sons.

Janet J. LaHayne, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Littelfuse and another 2006 Award winner, has a hands-on mentoring approach within her company. She actively takes a key role in promoting women in IT to management positions, and works with other senior level women to target young women to get in and stay in the technical fields. She constantly encourages and mentors women to "stretch" and make the move to management positions outside their comfort zone. Janet has mentored minority managers to take on more responsibility in the organization, and put them and their achievements in front of the senior management team. And, through her many speaking commitments and work with CIO magazine, gets the word out about issues important to aspiring leaders and peers.

Noreen Iles, VP of Technology Solutions for Freddie Mac, was an active participant in the Sears Mentoring program and was often sought out by women in all levels of the IT organization. She fully supported and encouraged her management team to participate in mentoring relationships. Women Unlimited is a program specifically designed to develop women in the workplace. Noreen has been part of panel discussion on career development and leadership.

The dictionary defines mentors as "experienced and trusted counselors," and most envision intimate one-on-one experiences with their mentors. As the 2006 Award winners demonstrate, however, mentoring happens in a variety of ways and places. Whether through church, sports, formal or informal means, it takes many forms. WITI salutes the dedication, creativity and energy these leaders have shown in putting mentorship into action.