Mentoring Future Leaders


She Shares offers a powerful platform for young women to connect with Sacramento’s most influential business and political leaders. Our year-long program pairs early-career women with accomplished women in government, business, communications, advocacy, and beyond who provide guidance, support, and inspiration.


Pairs meet throughout the year, participate in She Shares events, and build lasting relationships that often lead to new opportunities and professional growth.


Participants also have access to:
• Conversation Series events featuring women leaders at the highest levels
• Skill-building workshops led by mentors
• Small-group mixers designed to foster community
• Exclusive opportunities to broaden networks and sharpen career tools
These sessions equip attendees with tangible tools for career growth.


Who Should Apply?


Mentees: Early-career women seeking guidance, support, and professional development — or women working through a career transition who would benefit from a mentor’s insight.


Mentors: Experienced professionals who are passionate about supporting emerging leaders and sharing their knowledge, networks, and perspective.


Commitment


Mentees: Mentees are invited to attend all She Shares events throughout the year at no cost.


Mentor Commitment & Sponsorship Opportunity: To help sustain and expand the She Shares Mentorship Program, mentors are asked to purchase their own tickets for the main Conversation events, while workshop and mixer events will remain complimentary.


Mentors who wish to provide additional support may sponsor a full year of mentee participation for $1,000. This sponsorship helps fund access to guidance, networking, and professional development opportunities and includes one (1) ticket to each 2026 She Shares Conversation Series event.


**She Shares is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and your donation is tax deductible.

2026 Mentorship Program Pairs

Addison Miller, CivicSpark Fellow, California Department of Housing and Community Development is paired with Christina Lokke, Director, Legislative and External Affairs, Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG)


Ashley Seivert, Account Executive, Hearst is paired with Laura González, Digital Vice President, Unearth Campaigns


Ava Francis-Hall, Fellow (Stefani), California State Assembly is paired with Maral Farsi, Deputy Director of Legislative and Governmental Affairs, California Department of Public Health


Brianna Buda, Communications Manager, Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC) is paired with Julie Phillips, President and Partner, Randle Communications.


Brianna White, Former Assistant Account Executive at Perry Communications Group, is paired with Crystal Young, Communications Director, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom


Brooke Whiting, Director of Public Affairs, Roseville Area Chamber of Commerce is paired with Monika Lee, Chief of Staff, City of Sacramento


Catherine Charles, Policy Advisor, Bicker, Castillo, Fairbanks & Spitz Public Affairs is paired with Margaret Gladstein, Partner, Capitol Advocacy


Claudia Lorenz, Manager, International Programs, Global Ties Sacramento (division of World Trade Center Northern California) is paired with Keetha Mills, CEO, Foundation for California Community Colleges


Elaine Bonnitt, Daycare Attendant, Grateful Dog Daycare is paired with Ruth Rowlette, Attorney, Self-Employed


Elissa Lee, Senior Advisor of Community Engagement, California Volunteers (Office of the Governor) is paired with Jennifer Wonnacott, Chief External Affairs Officer, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California


Emily Hance-Royse, Analyst/Staff Services Manager I Specialist, California Department of Social Services is paired with Jenny Johnson, Vice President of Government Relations, Calbright Colleges


Emily Latimer, Account Supervisor, Bicker, Castillo, Fairbanks & Spitz Public Affairs is paired with Jessica Ng, Director, State and Local Government Affairs, Clear


Ericka Busby, External Affairs Manager Specialist, California Department of Social Services is paired with Tiffani Harter, Head of Organizational Development & Culture for the Investment Office, CalPERS


Evony Smith, In-Home Care Provider, Pacific Homecare is paired with Leah Barros, Founder/Advocate, Barros Clay & Associates


Georgia Wluka, Intern (Becker), California State Senate is paired with Erin Grizard, Founder, Goodlight Strategies


Janessa Shaw, Fellow and Front Desk Receptionist, Sacramento County Office of Education is paired with Delilah Clay, Partner, Barros Clay & Associates


Janet Mendoza-Partida, Executive Fellow, California High Speed Rail Authority is paired with Sabrina Lockhart, Executive Director, California Attractions and Parks Association


Julia Hayes, Legislative Aide, Office of Assemblymember Mike Gipson, is paired with Ellen Cesaretti-Monroy, Senior Consultant, Committee on Higher Education, California State Assembly


Karina Ruiz Zazueta, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Shriners Children's Northern California is paired with Jessyca Sheehan, Executive Vice President, Lucas Public Affairs


Katie Chavez, Legislative Aide (Rogers), California State Assembly is paired with Kim Stone, Lobbyist, Stone Advocacy


Kaylee Jensen, Facility Supervisor/Campus Recreation; Research Assistant/Unhoused Initiative; Government Ethics Fellow/Markkula Ethics Center is paired with Karina Talamantes, Councilmember/Mayor Pro Tem, City of Sacramento


Kiersta Donnelly, Digital Coordinator, Unearth Campaigns is paired with Sharon Gonsalves, Managing Director, California Public Policy Group


Lisette Torres, Government Affairs Manager, Lowe's Companies is paired with Connie Delgado, Founder, Delgado Government Affairs


Madeline Noell, Policy Manager, Downtown Sacramento Partnership is paired with Jamie Von Sossan, President, 3 Fold Communications


Mackenzie Minard, Forensic Clinician, Telecare Corporation is paired with Jennifer Troia, Director, CA Department of Social Services


Mandeep Ladhar, Neighborhood Data for Social Change, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate is paired with Tera Hannah, Special Advisor to Controller Malia Cohen, State Controller's Office


Maret Marcin, CEO, For Purpose is paired with Crystal Strait, Founder/Partner, Bright Light

Strategies

 

Marisol Ibarra, Legislative Director, California State Senate is paired with Amy Zajac (Hamerton), Director, Western Region, State Government Affairs, Genentech


Melissa Koshlaychuk, Government Affairs Analyst, Western Growers is paired with Deanna Johnston, VP, State Government Affairs, Prime Therapeutics


Milan Wilkerson, Program and Communications Associate, API Advocates is paired with Alicia Priego, Senior Policy Advisor, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP


Mmeli Ugochukwu, Advocacy and Engagement Coordinator, AICCU is paired with Nkiruka Catherine Ohaegbu, Principal, Adaptive Strategies Consulting


Monea Jennings, Senate Fellow (Smallwood-Cuevas), California State Senate is paired with Stephanie Roberson, Owner, Stephanie Roberson Strategies LLC


Monica Salas, Legislative Assistant, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is paired with Jennifer Roe, Partner, Capitol Advocacy


Paloma Elizalde, Senior Director, Government Affairs, California Resources Corporation is paired with Catherine Stadler Borg, Regional Director, State Government Affairs, Southern California Edison


Pearl Koven, Assistant, Communications & District Services Departments, Senate Republican Caucus is paired with Bryn Sullivan, Consultant, Senate Rules Committee


Renee Fagan, Fellow (Gomez Reyes), California State Senate is paired with Katie Hanzlik, Chief of Staff, Senator Angelique Ashby


Roxana Humphreys Moreno, Director of Meetings & Events, California Chamber of Commerce is paired with Claire Cullis, Deputy Secretary of Business and Consumer Relations, Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency


Sabrina Gleitz, Legislative Assistant, Axiom Advisors is paired with Katie Davey, Executive Director, Dairy Institute


Sada Ahmed, Intern, Asian American Liberation Network is paired with Linda Sacks, Senior Consultant, California Native American Caucus, Office of Assemblymember James Ramos


Sarah Crowe, Communications and Advocacy Manager, UC Office of the President – Office of State Governmental Relations is paired with Emily Prieto-Tseregounis, Vice President of External Affairs and Chief of Staff to the President, Samuel Merritt College


Sohini Monani, Student is paired with Shashwati Roy, Senior Professional Project Management, Gainwell Technologies


Tatiana Torres, Fellow, California Community College Chancellor's Office is paired with Karen Zamarripa, President, Karen Zamarripa Consulting


Trisha Saberian, Senior Business Operations & Projects Specialist, Foundation for California Community Colleges is paired with Tripti Uprety, Director, Gas Risk and Investment Planning, PG&E


Viviana Garcia, Energy & Infrastructure Field Rep, House of Representatives is paired with Nicole Soluri, Assistant Chief Counsel, CA Department of Conservation


Wendy Aguilar, Media and Communications Specialist, Sacramento Fire Department is paired with Laura Lee Brennan, Senior Brand Manager + Operations Manager, Air Protein

Thank you to our 2026 Mentorship Program Sponsors!

Linda White

Stephanie Roberson

Political Solutions

BB&G Political Fundraising 

Stone Advocacy

Arielle Julie

Barros Clay & Associates


Are you interested in sponsoring a mentees participation in our Mentorship Program? E-mail tt@tamaratorlakson.com to learn more.

2026 Mentorship Application

Applications for the 2026 Mentorship program are now closed. The deadline for applications was Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

If you have any questions, please e-mail tt@tamaratorlakson.com.

FAQs

  • What are the qualifications for a mentor?

    Mentors are women that are further along in their career, approximately 7+ years of experience, although it does not have to be at the same job that whole time. They should be able to offer mentorship and advice to women just starting out in their career and be able to meet virtually or in person at least five times during the year with their pair.

  • What are the qualifications for a mentee?

    Mentees are women that are newer in their career, usually just starting out, approximately in the first 5 or so years of their career. Although if there has been a major career change or a delay in starting the work force due to life circumstances, we still welcome you to apply and explain that. We ask that our mentees be graduated from college – but they can be enrolled in law school, business school or similar programs.   

  • Is there an age requirement?

    There is no age requirement, but usually our mentees end up being in their 20’s and our mentors are in their 30’s on up to their 60’s. If you had a late start to your career and worry you are “too old” for the program, reach out anyways and we can see if you are a good fit.

  • Is there a fee to participate?

    No, the program is completely free to participants. In fact, when we get back to having our in person events, all mentors and mentees will be able to attend complimentary as part of our program. 

  • How does the matching process work?

    We will typically match you with someone in a similar career field – or in the career field you are interested in that you described on your resume. For example, we once paired a law school student with a local Judge! If there is a particular type of career that you would like to be paired with, please let us know on the application. For example, if you are currently working for a legislator, but you would really like to become a lobbyist, we can try to pair you with a lobbyist.

  • Do you have to be located in Sacramento in order to participate?

    You do not! The only disadvantage to not being in Sacramento is it would be harder to attend in-person events, but you would still be welcome. We host practical workshops on Zoom throughout the year as well. 

  • How often do you have to engage with your mentor/mentee pair?

    We encourage each pair to work out what works best for them, but we do suggest that you meet (virtually or in person) at least five times throughout the year. You will really get out of it what you put into it.

  • How long is the program?

    You will officially be in the program for the entire calendar year. But after the program, many of our pairs stay in touch and continue their relationship for years. You will also be on our mailing list moving forward so you can join our events in the future. We always offer our alumna mentees a discount for our in person events too.

Mentorship Testimonials

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I have learned valuable concepts in the She Shares program. It was a great platform to know more about government through the workshops and conversations, and of course pairing me with my mentor. Teresa Stark, my mentor, talked to me about the capitol fellowship programs, she gave me advice, she shared with me how she started her career and how she became successful, she gave me the opportunity to shadow her, she invited me to assist to a presentation of the Finance Department, and she took me to a hearing at the capitol. All these types of experiences helped me to become more interested in the public service and government. I also enjoy going to all those conversations to see successful and role model women. I hope I can become a mentor of She Shares in a future as well to inspire young women.


– Claudia Espinoza, She Shares Mentee

“Before coming to the She Shares Workshop I was not sure which career field I was most interested in. When I attended the workshop, I hoped one of the speakers would somehow convince me that their career was best for me. Once I attended the workshop it was totally different from what I expected. Instead, I learned and obtained valuable advice given from guest speakers and will use it to my advantage such as having self-confidence and good communication skills. This was such an amazing workshop and I hope it could reach out to more women throughout all ages and classes because there was a lot of great advice that could potentially change someone's life and or career path.  This experience was valuable to me because I never had a mentor or someone who shared their success story with me, so I am very pleased to attend this workshop and connect with such influential women. Something that I will never forget from this workshop is 'networking'. Networking is so important and I am gradually learning how to network with people on LinkedIn and other social networks. I had such an amazing time at the workshop and hope this kind of opportunity is presented in the future.”


– Panhoia Lee, She Shares Mentee

“I've really enjoyed getting to know my mentee and becoming involved in her career development.  She has a lot to offer the community and professionally is already achieving at a very high level for someone her age.  It's also been rewarding to get to know some of the other mentees and I've had the opportunity to meet with many of them one on one as well as discuss career and other objectives with them.  Spending time with the other mentors, especially socially, has been an added benefit.  I find the sense of community in She Shares so rewarding and feel very fortunate to be a part of it.   This program has really helped keep purpose foremost in my professional life and that is a reward beyond measure.”


- Kelly Boyd, She Shares Mentor