By Samantha Norwood, staff writer.

It is widely known that the ratio of men to women employed in the sports industry is not balanced, there are many more males than females. The NCAA Division II Athletic Directors Association Women and Minorities Mentoring Program is working to improve this. The program pairs young women and minorities seeking careers in collegiate athletic administration with those who have experience, in hopes of providing them with guidance, and enhancing their ability to be successful in their careers.

Franklin Pierce has not one representative in the program, but two. It marks the first time in the program’s history two women from the same college are enrolled. Associate Athletic Director Jeanette McKillop is a mentee, while Director of Athletics Rachel Burleson is a mentor. Each one is paired with a woman from another institution. Mentors work with their mentees year-round to provide role modeling and guidance. Additionally, the mentees attend monthly webinars and do programming aimed at helping them become Athletic Directors. “The program covers many topics necessary for any AD to understand: leadership, networking, situational problem solving, and much more. Trust me, when I was [a mentee,] it was eye opening,” explained Burleson, who was a mentee in the program during the 2013-2014 academic year.

The role of current mentors, like Burleson, is to meet with their mentees bi-weekly. They focus on career goals, issues that the mentee may be facing, preparing for future situations, and even just being a sounding board. The program wants to improve the NCAA and its leaders, and has a pretty good track record at doing so. The program’s website (link) features biographies of 15 past mentees who are now Athletic Directors, with Burleson included among them. “There is no doubt my confidence and preparedness for the AD interview and position was in some part due to this program,” explained Burleson.

“I consider myself lucky as I have my official mentor, who is Sheila Wooten, the Athletic Director at Bloomfield College in New Jersey,” said McKillop. “But, I have the wonderful opportunity to have Rachel Burleson, as my day-to-day Athletic Director and mentor. For me, this is like having two mentors who are in and have gone through the program.” McKillop looks forward to improving the Franklin Pierce community. She wants to “provide an enhanced student-athlete experience,” in addition to assisting coaches and helping them improve their respective programs.

As for Burleson, she said, “My goal is to get my mentee, and Jen, prepared and comfortable for the next step in their careers, even if that is just growing within their current roles.” She loves the bond she’s formed with her mentee and also McKillop, and knows that it will last far beyond the year-long program. “I am lucky enough to be working with strong, talented, and intelligent women!” she exclaimed.

One of the biggest advantages to the program is the connections it creates. It provides a wider network for growing professionals, by connecting them to others in the NCAA, which is made up of more than 1000 college and universities. It improves knowledge and skills not only at the institutional level, but across all aspects of the NCAA, and two of Franklin Pierce’s own are a part of it.