National Mentor Month: NAHJ Atlanta

In celebration of National Mentoring Month, we would like to highlight one of the outstanding mentorship programs offered to our students. 

National Association of Hispanic Journalists Atlanta partners with faculty members and staff from the state’s top journalism schools to select several students and pair them with experienced journalists for a semester.

A mentor/mentee pairing before the NAHJ Atlanta Mentorship Program went virtual due to COVID-19. (Courtesy: Elwyn Lopez)

 

Senior journalism major Liset Cruz started with the program in October and was paired with Emily Sides, a reporter with Law360. 

Cruz says by connecting with someone like Sides who shares a similar cultural background it “allows for a more open connection and honesty about hardships.”

“I think meeting Latinas within the journalism industry is one of the most important things to me,” Cruz said. “As a first generation college student and first generation Mexican-American, I’ve had a lot of difficulty navigating both college and the workforce. We’ve discussed [Sides’s] career and what moves she’s made and why she made them. It gives me a picture of what my career could look like.”

These conversations involved everything from the journalism student to journalism professional pipeline to past experiences and salaries to resumes, cover letters and application essays.

ABC News Correspondent Elwyn Lopez started the mentorship program alongside CNN’s Lynn Marie Franco after the two realized the importance of having a mentor in the industry.

From Madrid, Spain, Elwyn Lopez is a correspondent for ABC News. (Courtesy: Elwyn Lopez)

You can learn skills in journalism school, tools on the job but having someone who has done it all to look up to is invaluable,” Lopez said. “Still – to this day – we largely see a lack of diversity in our country’s newsrooms. Inevitably, that disparity impacts our coverage. In order to cover our communities accurately and fairly with the added context and perspective needed, we have to reflect them.”

The best way to reflect that, Lopez says, is by “supporting and lifting each other up from the classrooms and into the assignment desks, control rooms, field and anchor chairs.”

When reflecting on their time together, Cruz says that making a “new friend” has been her favorite part of the experience. 

“Now I have someone I can text to chat about anything. I can ask advice without feeling awkward and I have someone who relates to my experiences,” Cruz said.

This is exactly what Lopez had hoped for. 

“Personally, it fills me with orgullo, [Spanish for] a deep sense of pride, to be in this position to make the program accessible to students with the help of journalism schools across Georgia,” she said. “To see the next generation of journalists connect with those already in the field and witness that connection grow into professional support beyond our mentorship program – and even job opportunities –  is better than I could’ve ever hoped for.”

 

Editor’s Note: This feature was written by Sam Perez, a 2021 Yarbrough Fellow in the Grady College Department of Communication and a current participant in the NAHJ-Atlanta Mentorship Program.

AdPR Week alumna profile: Jackie Herr (ABJ ’82)

In honor of AdPR Week, we are profiling select Grady College alumni who are using their Grady education in the creative industries they serve. In this series, they discuss their career paths and offer advice to current Grady students.

Jackie Herr, a 1982 advertising graduate, is the co-founder of PICFARI, LLC, a website and mobile app “that appeals to anyone who loves to travel and take photos.”

Herr is a longtime supporter of Grady College. She served on the Grady Board of Trust and is part of AdPR’s The Second Century Club, which is comprised of individuals who make an annual contribution to the AdPR Excellence Fund of $1,000 or more.

Grady College: Which courses or professors were most helpful in preparing you to work in the industry?

Jackie Herr: Professor Ron Lane’s Campaigns course was pivotal. He taught us the importance of knowing your audience, how to establish your presence, how to effectively communicate concepts and strategies in a meaningful, memorable and measurable way. This course really tied the ribbon around all the creative, strategy and research classes

GC: How did you get your start?

JH: During college, I worked for a radio station as a receptionist, DJ, copywriter, and sales-kind of a Jackie of all trades! After college, with Professor Lane’s help, I landed a job at an ad agency as a media buying assistant.

GC: What advice would like to give to students?

Engage and stay engaged with key professors, administrators, bosses, clients and colleagues. They form the basis of a very influential network of next jobs, next clients, and next opportunities. This is where you begin to establish your A-list network. I’m not talking about the hundreds you have in your social media networks, I’m talking about those key people in your life who will go out of their way to help you be successful and not just press the button on Facebook or on Instagram. This is usually a small, but very influential group. One of my best job connections came from a chance meeting with a media rep who had been kept waiting for over an hour to see one of my colleagues. I felt sorry for him and a simple conversation turned into a connection that led not only to my next job, but the source for amazing client referrals.

Work hard to get those internships, preferably before junior year. Demonstrate that you have a “go-getter” attitude. The more you engage now, the more successful you’ll be later in life.


See more in this series: