PODCAST

Building Inclusive Cultures Through Mentoring (Work from the Inside Out with Tammy Gooler | July 2022)

Lisa Fain grew up in a family of lawyers and while there was no obvious pressure, she ended up going to law school. She had envisioned a career in public interest law, but upon graduation, she had significant student loan debt which she wanted to clear before moving forward. Fortunately, Lisa was able to work in an area that interested her, labor and employment law, while squaring away her loan, working for a large law firm. She enjoyed counseling clients, using her negotiation and mediation skills while focusing on matters pertaining to EEO, diversity, and compliance.

Yet, still, Lisa knew this was not the way she wanted to work. The turning point came after she had pulled an all-nighter preparing for a litigation case. She saw a blinking light on her phone indicating she had a voicemail. It was a message from her four-year-old daughter. She said “Mommy come home. We need a mommy, not a lawyer.” Lisa shared, “It was the worst best gift I ever got because I recognized that I wasn’t living my values. Although I was doing great work, I wasn’t able to be the kind of mother that I wanted to be.”

Lisa left the large firm and transitioned to an in-house role at a company where she developed workplace policies, eventually focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. She loved the work and demand across the company grew. Lisa was asked to create a mentoring program so she reached out to Lois Zachary of the Center for Mentoring Excellence to provide consultation on how to set it up. Full disclosure: Lois is Lisa’s mother!

Fast forward to today: Lisa is the CEO of the Center for Mentoring Excellence. She is a global speaker with expertise in cultural competency and mentoring. Her passion for diversity and inclusion fuels her conviction that leveraging differences creates a better workplace and drives better business results.

In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Lisa’s journey:

PODCAST

What Mentorship Means (Culture Moments Podcast | March 2022)

Mentorship. You know the term. You’re familiar with the concept. But what does it mean to truly foster a meaningful mentorship in the workplace?

In this Brave Conversation, Culture Moments podcast host Larry Baker is joined by guests Lisa Fain, CEO of The Center for Mentoring Excellence, Kamillah Knight, Senior Global Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Danaher Corporation, and LCW’s own Tamara Thorpe, Senior Consultant and the founder of Real Mentors Network.

Together, they explore what it means to form an authentic mentorship, why mentorship matters, the different forms mentorship can take, and what it looks like to put this conversation into action and pursue a mentorship in your own workplace.

PODCAST

The Ingredients of a Successful Mentoring Program (Get Unstuck and On Target | December 2021)

When creating something meaningful, you must have the right ingredients. In this week’s podcast, guest speaker Lisa Fain discusses how trust and inclusion are the most vital ingredients for a successful mentorship program within an organization.

 PODCAST

Celebrating Mentoring Excellence (WeMentor Podcast | October 2021)

When Dr. Lois Zachary founded Leadership Development Services, LLC and its Center for Mentoring Excellence, her daughter, Lisa Fain, was in high school. Women entrepreneurship was on the rise, “according to the 1988 State of Small Business Report, the number of sole proprietorships owned by women increased 62 percent between 1980 and 1986.  Now, “women entrepreneurs make up 47% of the new entrepreneurs in the United States. 

Lisa says that growing up in a 1980s entrepreneurial home gave her a sense of purpose, place, and accountability. It reinforced an understanding that Lisa could contribute to the world, shape her work, and be independent. This independent thinking started in her formative years when Lisa and her brother were encouraged to make plans and prepare their own meals.

As Dr. Zachary built her educational consultancy and Ed expanded his legal firm in Syracuse, New York, they still managed to be present and engaged parents. Role modeling the benefits of doing fulfilling work fueled Lisa’s entrepreneurial spirit that sprouted in her 30s and 40s. You will hear how she took her diverse interests of political science, sociology, and economics with a social justice bend into acquiring an interdisciplinary degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. Two important courses taught by a cherished mentor helped Lisa understand ways to repair the world. Eventually, she became a lawyer, mediator, coach, and CEO at the Center for Mentoring Excellence.

 PODCAST

Mentoring Excellence with Dr. Lois Zachary (WeMentor Podcast | October 2021)

Dr. Lois Zachary is an internationally recognized expert on mentoring and has been cited as “one of the top 100 minds in leadership” today. You’ve likely seen mention of Dr. Zachary’s books, or read her quotes, in The New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Inc. magazine, T&D, Leadership Excellence, The Chronicle of Higher Education, or other business and leadership news outlets.

Dr. Lois Zachary and her daughter Lisa Fain are a powerful entrepreneurial mentoring team. Dr. W. Brad Johnson, a Professor of Psychology at the U.S. Naval Academy and Faculty Associate at Johns Hopkins University, says that Dr. Zachary and Lisa are “luminaries in the mentoring field.”

“Mentors and mentees may come from different backgrounds and have a limited understanding of each other’s cultures and outlooks, but mentorship remains one of the most powerful tools for inclusion, professional development, and talent retention,” writes Dr. Lois Zachary and Lisa Fain.