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 Application

Applications for the 2026 Mentorship program are now open. Please use the links below to complete your application.



The deadline for applications is Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

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

2025 Mentorship Program Pairs

Kianna Walker, Legislative Aide, California State Senate, is paired with Alicia Priego, Senior Policy Advisor, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP


Jennifer Robles, Policy & Legislative Associate, Health Access California, is paired with Amy Zajac (Hamerton), Director, Western Region, State Government Affairs, Genentech


Amy McRam, YouTube Content Creator and Evangelist, is paired with Arielle Julie, Senior Manager, Talent Brand Operations, Zillow


Leila Romero, Fellow, California State Assembly, is paired with Ashley Hoffman, Senior Policy Advocate, CalChamber


Sophia Karperos, Fellow, California State Assembly, is paired with Bryn Sullivan, Consultant, Senate Rules Committee


Victoria Mesquita, Policy Fellow, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, is paired with Catherine Stadler Borg, Regional Director, State Government Affairs, Southern California Edison


Kayla Lewandowski, Operations and Communications Director , Sacramento City Council, is paired with Claire Conlon, Senior Director of State Government Affairs, Biocom California


Fatema Nushin, Legislative Aide, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, is paired with Connie Delgado, Founder, Delgado Government Affairs


Jimena Loza-Naveja, Field Representative, United States Congress, is paired with Crystal Young, Communications Director, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom


Savanah Dominikus, Legislative Aide, California State Assembly, is paired with Crystal Strait, Founder/Partner, Bright Light Strategies


Caitlin Loventhal, State and Local Government Advisory Associate, KPMG, is paired with Darcy Totten, Director of Communications, California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls


Janine Bedley, Scheduler/ Legislative Aide, California State Assembly, is paired with Elizabeth Fuller, Chief Consultant, Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care


Nimervir Thiara, Student, Yuba College, is paired with Elizabeth Lozano, Assistant Professor, California Northstate University


Maeve Parasol, Fellow, California State Senate, is paired with Ellen Cesaretti-Monroy, Senior Consultant, Committee on Higher Education, California State Assembly


Anabel Urbina, Associate Legislative Advocate, California State University, Office of the Chancellor at the Advocacy and State Relations (ASR) Office, is paired with Erin Baum, Associate Director, Advocacy and Institutional Relations, UCOP


Mariella Castillo, Neighborhood Ambassador, Santa Clara University, is paired with Jeannette Carpenter, Advocate


Mariah Frerichs, Fellow, California State Senate is paired with Jennifer Roe, Lobbyist, Capitol Advocacy


Ruby Arceo, Fellow, California State Assembly is paired with Jennifer Wonnacott, Chief External Affairs Officer, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California


Hannah Lee, Field Representative, California State Assembly, is paired with Jennifer (Jenny) Johnson, Vice President of Government Relations, Calbright Colleges


Etta Lauchland, Account Coordinator, Cobalt Public Affairs, is paired with Jessica Ng, Director of Regional Communications, Clear


Isabel (Izzy) Huerta, Deputy Director of Digital Communications, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is paired with Jessyca Sheehan, Executive Vice President, Lucas Public Affairs


Ashley Cope, Fellow, California State Assembly is paired with Julie Phillips, President and Partner, Randle Communications


Sarah Crowe, Communications and Advocacy Manager, University of California State Governmental Relations is paired with Karen Zamarripa, President, Karen Zamarripa Consulting


Jerika Edwards Legislative Aide, California State Assembly, is paired with Karina Talamantes, Councilmember/ Mayor Pro Tem, City of Sacramento


Athena Sanchez, Fellow, California State Assembly, is paired with Katie Hanzlik, Chief of Staff, Senator Angelique Ashby


Catalina Lira, Membership Director, California Manufacturers & Technology Association, is paired with Katie Davey, Executive Director, Dairy Institute


Amanda Wong, Event Coordinator/ Executive Assistant, Soil Born Farms, is paired with Keetha Mills, CEO, Foundation for California Community Colleges


Rachel Tyberg, Scheduler, California State Assembly, is paired with Kim Stone, Lobbyist, Stone Advocacy


Avory Grays, Project Communications Lead, Child Action, is paired with Laura Lee Brennan, Senior Brand Manager + Operations Manager, Air Protein


Kiara Badue, Communications Marketing Associate, California Manufacturers & Technology Association, is paired with Laura González, Digital Supervisor, Unearth Campaigns


Katherine Squire, Legislative Analyst, California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, is paired with Lauren Greenwood, Deputy Director of Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs, California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)


Azizat Sanni, CPS Social Worker, County of Sacramento, is paired with Leah Barros, Founder/Advocate, Barros Clay & Associates


Karina Ruiz Zazueta, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Shriner's Children’s Hospital California, is paired with Libby Hall, Executive Vice President, Unearth Campaigns


Genevieve McCloy, Fellow, California State Assembly is paired with Linda Sacks, Senior Consultant, California Native American Caucus, Office of Assemblymember James Ramos


Mitul Kalra, Fellow, California State Senate is paired with Maral Farsi, Deputy Director of Legislative and Governmental Affairs, California Department of Public Health


Isabella Ratto, Legal Secretary, is paired with Margaret Gladstein, Partner, Capitol Advocacy


Melissa Cedillo, Organizer, Health Access California is paired with Megan Lane, Chief Consultant, Assembly Labor and Employment Committee


Kylan Morris, Senior Manager, Patient Advocacy, BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics is paired with Melanie Cuevas, Vice President, State & Local Government Relations – CA, HI, AK, JPMorgan Chase


Marysol Valdez, Fellow, State of California, Executive Branch is paired with Monika Lee, Chief of Staff, City of Sacramento


Emily Bruns, Edward Jones, is paired with Nicole Soluri, CEO, Professional BusinessWomen of California (PBWC)


Estefani Avila, Legislative Director, California State Assembly, is paired with Nkiruka Catherine Ohaegbu, Principal, Adaptive Strategies Consulting


Claire Schad, Apprentice, Lucas Public Affairs is paired with Rachel Linn Gish, Director of Communications, Health Access California


Julia Crawford, Attorney, Palmer Kazanjian Wohl Hodson is paired with Ruth Rowlette, Attorney, Self-Employed


Kayla Daniels, Fellow, California State Assembly, is paired with Stephanie Roberson, Owner, Stephanie Roberson Strategies LLC


Samantha Johnson, District Representative, California State Assembly, is paired with Tera Hannah, Special Advisor, Controller Malia Cohen


Valerie Sanchez, Associate Governmental Program Analyst, California Department of Social Services is paired with Tiffani Harter, Head of Organizational Development & Culture for the Investment Office, CalPERS


Kayla Bryson, Paraprofessional, Western Placer Unified School District, is paired with Tiffany K. Martin, Owner & CEO, TKMartin Consulting LLC

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