Bobcat Mentorship Network brings three generations of OHIO women together

(From left) Ohio University senior Megan Halleen, BSC ’20, poses for a photo with her Bobcat Mentorship Network mentor Betsy McCann, BSC ’00; McCann’s aunt, Victoria (Mitchell) Hartley, BSED ’69; and McCann’s mom, Sandra (Mitchell) McCann, BS ’66.

Over the course of her career in human resources, Betsy McCann, BSC ’00, has set up mentorship programs for recent hires, but a new program at Ohio University gave this OHIO graduate a chance to do something she had never done formally before: Be a mentor.

McCann was one of 1,645 OHIO alumni residing in 47 states, 27 countries and representing 61 industries who signed up last summer to serve as mentors through Ohio University’s Bobcat Mentorship Network. An online platform that provides OHIO students and graduates a meaningful way to learn from and encourage one another in a professional setting, the Bobcat Mentorship Network is designed to help all members of the University community in their career development while facilitating Bobcat connections.

Spearheaded by the Ohio University Alumni Association in partnership with the Career and Leadership Development Center, the Bobcat Mentorship Network launched in the fall of 2019. In the inaugural year of the program, more than 100 OHIO student mentees were paired with alumni, faculty and staff mentors, engaging in monthly interactions that help students navigate their academic journey and prepare them for the transition from college to career.

The director of people operations in the Chicago office of insurance firm Embroker, McCann said she jumped at the chance to participate in the Bobcat Mentorship Networking, seizing the opportunity to serve as a mentor after years of building mentorship programs at the companies where she had worked.

“Because I often facilitate these programs, I never really get to do some of the mentoring work, so this was just really exciting,” McCann said. “I get the chance to have those conversations – and with somebody who is walking on the same streets, going to the same buildings and have some of the same experiences as I was 20 years ago.”

After connecting over the phone and by email, Bobcat Mentorship Network mentee Megan Halleen, BSC ’20, and mentor Betsy McCann, BSC ’00, met in person last fall when McCann and members of her family visited Athens.

Through the Bobcat Mentorship Network’s formal matching program, McCann was paired with Ohio University senior Megan Halleen, BSC ’20, who joined the program as a mentee with a goal of serving as a mentor in the future.

“Honestly, Betsy has been just a really good support system,” Halleen said of her mentor.

Over the course of the semester, Halleen and McCann talked almost weekly. McCann noted how much she enjoyed hearing about Halleen’s OHIO experience – from the classes she is taking to Athens’ notorious Halloween block party.

With graduation fast approaching, Halleen shared with McCann different job prospects she was exploring, and McCann provided her resume-building and networking tips, drawing on her work experience and her academic experience at OHIO.

“I use things I learned as an undergrad every day,” McCann said.

Specifically, McCann mentioned the book “Diffusion of Innovation” that she learned about from Dr. Nagesh Rao, who now chairs the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Department of Social Medicine. “I have probably used that book intellectually or philosophically almost every day in the past 23 years since he shared it with me,” she said.

She also noted her experience with OHIO’s competitive speech and debate team, the Speaking Bobcats, through which she was able to travel the country, meet other people and build a personal and professional network.

“Being able to have that network has been profoundly influential,” McCann said. “The people I was able to meet from across the country, because I was on the speech and debate team, has built the most incredible phone-a-friend network I’ve ever come across.”

McCann’s college journey was bolstered also by being the fourth member of her family to attend Ohio University, a dynamic she was excited to share with Halleen.

“Betsy wasn’t near Athens or anything, but she was very committed to actually meeting me in person,” Hallen said.

The pair was able to make this connection in late fall when McCann visited Athens with her family. McCann and Halleen planned to meet for lunch at Casa Nueva, but what Halleen did not know was that by connecting with McCann via the Bobcat Mentorship Network, she was also opening herself up to a handful of alumni connections beyond that one partnership.

Halleen not only met McCann for the first time, but also some of the fellow Bobcats in her mentor’s family: McCann’s aunt, Victoria (Mitchell) Hartley, BSED ’69, and her mom, Sandra (Mitchell) McCann, BS ’66. McCann was ecstatic to be able to welcome Halleen into her Bobcat family.

“I wanted her to have a really broadening experience and to know that there’s a bunch of people in the world who are rooting for her,” McCann said of the visit to Athens.

This extra effort did not go unnoticed by Halleen, and McCann’s dedication to the Bobcat Mentorship Network has inspired her to be on the giving end of the mentorship program after she graduates.

“It shows that Betsy is very committed to this mentoring program. She did not have to do that at all, but she went out of her way to make those connections for me,” Halleen said. “It was a very special moment for me to be with them.”

For McCann, her experience with the Bobcat Mentorship Network and mentoring Halleen has been rewarding both professionally and personally and was made even special after her mentee contacted her a couple weeks ago with the best news of all: She will be graduating from Ohio University with a job.

“I’ve had a lot of experiences, and being able to share those experiences with somebody who is about to embark on their own career, 20 years after I began mine, is something special,” McCann said. “I grew up learning that OU was a magical place. Coming back 20 years after my own tenure and feeling that magical place again was just really incredible. I am so proud that the school I went to has managed to keep that spirit going.”

The Bobcat Mentorship Network will be relaunching its formal mentee-mentor matching program next fall. To learn more about how you can get involved, click here.