Inspire, Empower, Connect: Reaching across Cultural Differences to Make a Real Difference
In my role as an Ombuds in a diverse university setting, I am excited to have Anne Chan's excellent book,Inspire, Empower, Connect, available as a resource. Far too many individuals come to my office because of difficulties or disappointments with their mentors, and a good bit of the problem is that most mentors receive little or no structured training for or guidance about the role. This is especially true when it comes to learning the skills involved in mentoring someone from a different ethnic or cultural background. Anne Chan's book is an important contribution because it clearly conceptualizes and articulates the essential elements that define excellent mentoring and offers practical, sound advice for current or prospective mentors.Inspire, Empower, Connectwill guide a new generation of culturally competent mentors in a wide variety of settings. (David A. Rasch, University Ombuds, Stanford University)Chan has provided a practical and insightful guide to mentoring that explains all the things mentors can do to connect effectively with ethnic minorities and people from diverse backgrounds. Most importantly, Chan demonstrates how race and culture can enrich a mentoring relationship and how mentors can work successfully through cultural differences. Not only does Chan demystify the process of mentoring, she lays it out step-by-step, providing helpful tips for how to connect with people of all ages from all walks of life. Chan also explains how institutions can provide support for mentoring to improve recruitment and retention rates of ethnic minorities. Whether you’re an administrator, teacher, employer, advisor, or supervisor—this is a must-read guide to making a real difference in people’s lives and in the quality of the work or school environment and increase diversity in the process.” (Horace Mitchell, president, California State University, Bakersfield)Anne Chan urges mentors and mentees to address the elephant in the room. Talking with one another about their different racial/ethnic backgrounds and how these have shaped their experiences, outlooks, and ambitions—such conversations do indeed matter. Chan provides not only pointers for initiating these essential conversations but also dozens of helpful suggestions to increase mentors' competency and confidence. (JoAnn Moody, national specialist in faculty development (www.diversityoncampus.com))Anne Chan's book reinforces the importance of our roles as mentors and provides guideline for how to deal with cultural differences, how to implement specific techniques when dealing with age differences, and how to model and encourage the setting of positive goals. AAUW Fremont Branch enthusiastically endorses this book as a resource for its own high school girls' mentorship program, because it serves as an extension of AAUW's mission to provide equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. (Board of Directors, American Association of University Women, Fremont Branch (http://www.aauwfremontbranch.org/))This book is a practical and evidence-based manual on how to be a good mentor and a good protégé. It is based on systematic interviews with both mentors and protégés and observations of their interactions with each other. The findings are distilled into valuable tips about finding and enjoying a significant professional relationship. (John Krumboltz, professor of education and psychology, Stanford University)Anne Chan’s book talks about the essentials of mentoring. Throughout the entire book, she gives case examples of specific mentoring practices, an explanation of why the practice matters as well as a section of practical strategies for implementing the practice with students of protégés. Advisors will find the practical strategies at the end of each chapter to be specifically applicable to their work with students…. This well-written book is easy to read with practical strategies that advisors can implement in their own advising work with their students.(NACADA Journal)