Mentorship program
The Hexagon Mentorship program is dedicated to supporting the careers of womxn and non-binary folx in UX by helping you create meaningful connections and build skills that foster success. Through these relationships, we’ll help close the gender gap and grow leaders in UX.
“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.”
Steven Spielberg
History
The program first started in the San Francisco in September 2015 with one simple goal: to support junior womxn in UX by partnering them with senior-level womxn in the field. What began simply as an idea quickly turned into a popular program with over 100 applicants for the first cohort and expansion into other chapters. Some of our stellar mentors are from Airbnb, eBay, Facebook, Google, HTC, Oracle, Twitter, and Rodan+Field to name a few. We hope to continue to serve the womxn and non-binary folx in our field by changing as the needs do.
How it works
In the most active chapters, there are 4 mentorship cohorts per year; in less active chapters, there may be only 2 cohorts per year. Each cohort lasts for 3 months. Applications for mentees open a few weeks before the start of each program; announcements are made on this website, as well as on social media as soon as they become available.
Applying to be a Mentee
To be considered for the program, you must be a womxn or non-binary individual, have an online portfolio, and be able to attend your chapter’s kickoff event in person.
We look for self-motivation and resourcefulness; e.g. what it is that you feel like you can learn from mentorship, what are your goals, and what UX experiences you have had so far. We then try to provide the best possible pool of mentees who might be good matches for our mentors.
Because mentors change with every cohort, you may have a great application, but may not be a good match for the current pool of mentors. We always encourage applicants to try again; there may be the perfect mentor for you in the next round!
Matching Process
Accepted applicants are invited to attend a matching event, where mentors and mentees have an opportunity to meet (for more on how we select mentees, see “Applying to be a Mentee”). During the event, both mentors and mentees privately indicate their preferred partners. Based on these preferences, the chapter’s mentorship committee creates matches and both pairs are informed of their partnership within 72 hours.
Once partnerships are made, mentors and mentees meet virtually or in person over the course of three months to discuss career goals, interviewing skills, portfolios, best practices, and more.
Throughout the course of the program, we send out recommended topics for discussion but mentees are encouraged to come up with topics that are most relevant to them.
Event highlights
