PENTA Recognized by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito during National Mentoring Month
WESTBOROUGH _ PENTA Communications, Inc., the region’s most trusted integrated marketing firm for over 30 years and a longstanding, staunch supporter of the power of youth mentorship, was recently recognized by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito for its innovative PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™ during National Mentoring Month and year round.
“Thank you for your leadership and support for youth mentoring,” said Lt. Governor Polito. “You have been a long and strategic partner in this effort to support youth.”
PENTA received a Governor’s Citation on the 21st of January commending the firm for its longstanding commitment to youth mentoring.
“On behalf of the citizens of Massachusetts, I am pleased to confer upon your organization this Governor’s Citation in recognition of your Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™, your year round support for youth mentoring, and your demonstrated leadership during National Mentoring Month,” said Governor Baker.
The marketing firm has been a steadfast supporter and leader in providing mentorship experiences to college bound high school students for over three decades. PENTA has worked collaboratively with local school administrations to offer innovative programs and real world experiences to benefit students.
Its PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™ is a high level business preparatory course for high-achieving Westborough High School (WHS) college-bound seniors seeking careers in business, created to offer an immersive, real world, multi-faceted learning experience and to provide exclusive access to the C-level leadership of local companies and their behind-the-scenes operations. The program, launched by PENTA Founder and CEO Deborah Penta in 2015, has cultivated mentoring relationships with over 60 WHS students within the five years since its inception.
The PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™ has historically offered a wide range of enriching educational experiences across the full gamut of business and marketing. From touring a leading global, state-of-the-art OEM manufacturing facility to exploring the “Business of Banking” on-site with marketing leaders at an innovative and fast-growing community bank, to participating in panel discussions with the Massachusetts state delegation, attending live filming in the studio for PENTA’s television show, “Top Growth,” and so much more, students have gained a unique wealth of knowledge to take with them on their academic journeys to successful careers.
Relationships forged through the PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™ with its local leading business partners have offered mutually beneficial effects for all participants.
For businesses, an employer survey by the National Mentoring Partnership showed that “employees of companies that are engaged in mentoring are significantly more likely to be satisfied in their jobs,” with 73% reporting job satisfaction. This opens the door for a “caring culture that can be created or strengthened when company leadership commits to supporting mentoring young people,” leading to happier employees, the report cited. At mentoring-aligned companies, more than 50% of employees surveyed affirmed that this corporate support for mentorship “matters a lot to them.” In fact, 48% of those surveyed in Executive/Senior Management positions experienced mentorship in their own youth.
The benefits of mentorship can have direct and positive influences throughout professional careers as well. A recent Forbes article cited how “mentoring ambitious young people creates a network of rising professionals who can help … make valuable connections,” while mentorship also “makes us better managers and better leaders.”
A Robert Half Management Resources survey concurred, reporting that, “Thirty-eight percent of CFOs who have served as a mentor said the greatest benefit is the opportunity to improve their own leadership skills, followed by 29 percent who cited the internal satisfaction of helping others.”
For students (of the PENTA Program), the lasting impact of mentorship can be truly valuable to augment their future success. MENTOR, the national non-profit organization committed to youth mentoring, reported that “young adults with a mentor are 130% more likely to hold leadership positions.” In an online video, the organization further stated, “Mentoring amplifies change, one relationship at a time. … Together, we can make the world a place of opportunity for all.”
Brendan McCafferty, a PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™ participant and a 2020 WHS graduate, shared his appreciation. “It’s definitely been a great opportunity. [The program] really opened up my mind for possible career options,” he said. “It’s really helped me figure out … what I could major in and do as a career.” McCafferty was accepted by the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, set to matriculate in Fall 2020.
Westborough Superintendent of Schools Amber Bock spoke to the PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™ student experience and the lasting impact on each individual’s future, in a virtual graduation ceremony held in June 2020.
“I think you’re going to find that you will draw upon [the PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™] again and again, as you head out to work, to school, to life. It’s really a set of skills that, for me, exemplify the relationship between community and school,” Bock said.
WHS Principal Brian Callaghan concurred. “The connections formed during a mentor program, like the PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program™, can be the event that binds students’ academic interests and personal aspirations and helps them make sound decisions about their future,” he said.
In honor of National Mentoring Month, PENTA CEO Deborah Penta reflected on the program and the power of mentorship, with words of inspiration for the students who participated during the COVID pandemic.
“You are the individuals that will be tomorrow’s leaders,” Penta said. “And, with hopes, when crisis hits our great nation again in the future, it will be through your wisdom, your thoughtfulness, your compassion, and your leadership that we will absolutely prevail.”
National Mentoring Month was founded in 2002 by the National Mentoring Partnership and the Harvard TH School of Public Health to recognize and celebrate the positive effects of mentoring youth. For more information, please visit: https://www.mentoring.org/campaigns/national-mentoring-month/.