Executive Mentor Program

The FIT Executive Mentor Program was established at the launch of this unique graduate leadership training program in September 2000. It was conceived as an additional opportunity, outside of the classroom, for emerging executives in the FIT Master’s degree program to achieve their professional development goals. The Executive Mentor Program matches students in the graduate program with senior executives in the beauty industry to give them additional, first-hand guidance in assessing and developing leadership styles, skill sets, decision making tools and sources of creative inspiration necessary for senior management roles.

In 2004, the Industry Advisory Board of the FIT Master’s degree program appointed a subcommittee on Professional Development to address formalizing the corporate relationships and professional development activities that were unique to the program, create guidelines for their continued success and review their structures for improvements to the learning environment. A complete review of the Executive Mentor Program was undertaken by the Committee, in consultation with Guttman Development Strategies. The materials in this package are the result of the dedicated work of the many senior executives and human resources professionals on that Committee, many of whom are also board members, faculty, executive mentors and alumni of the FIT Master’s degree.

In 2007, a further commitment to the importance of the mentoring experience was undertaken when the FIT Executive Mentor Program became a formal part of the curriculum for the Master’s in Professional Studies. The graduating students complete a three credit graduate course, CF 695: Individual Development Plan.