The new semester has brought a sense of renewal to SWSG Boston office: new office staff, a new Chapter (UMassBoston!), and, of course, new mentors!
At Spring Training, new mentors learned the ropes of SWSG, and returning mentors became experts! A mentor myself,  I look forward to SWSG Trainings for the opportunity to meet more of my fellow mentors from other chapters, to learn new things together, and to be in a room ( THE room) full of a hundred college women who know exactly what it means to be a mentor. We spend the day doing what we do best: building strong relationships and learning from each other.
Spring Training this year also brought a new way for Mentors to connect. Within our chapters, mentors are  encouraged to ask questions of each other and to support and contribute back to our SWSG group. Strong community is a pillar of our mission, and the new mentor website, SWSG Connect, gives mentors a platform to connect with each other, across chapters, and across cities. 
Being piloted in Boston this semester, SWSG Connect allows mentors to ask each other questions, to post announcements of upcoming events, and provides information that mentors need to know (upcoming dates, etc.) It will also feature a spotlight of a different mentor every few weeks, so that we can celebrate our diverse female community!  With SWSG Connect, mentors have a place to talk to each other,  and the feeling of community and support that we get during meetings extends beyond those weekly meetings to whenever we need to talk to someone who just gets it.
SWSG Connect is scheduled to launch to Pittsburgh and South Florida next year.