WTS

WTS-Boston Formal Mentoring Graduation

The 2023 WTS Boston Chapter Formal Mentoring program came to a close on June 7 with a special graduation ceremony and tour of MassDOT's District 6 Vent Building. Our marvelous guests were MassDOT experts Jonathan Gulliver (State Highway Administrator), John McInerney (District Highway Director), Carrie Lavallee (Deputy Administrator and Chief Engineer), and Shirley Gibson (District Administrator). Wow – it was such an honor to hear their thoughts about the importance of mentorship in the transportation industry. 

WTS Boston mentoring program graduation.
WTS Boston mentoring program graduation.

The 2023 WTS Boston Chapter formal mentoring program was led by Estey Masten, with an incredible group of WTS mentors: 

  • Laurie Carlson, 
  • Rachael Sack, 
  • Janet Campbell-Lorenc, 
  • Theresa Carr, 
  • Dorri Raposa, 
  • Rachel J. Burckardt, 
  • Lori Chicoyne, 
  • Marian Barth, 
  • Alexandra Cann, 
  • Hayes Morrison, 
  • Pearl Ivey,
  • Marcia Kelly. 

Mentees this year were:

  • Abigail Cory, 
  • Avery Pecci, 
  • Estephanie Leahy, 
  • Maria Dulin
  • Amy Liu Pathak, 
  • Angela Truong, 
  • Patrick Marvin, 
  • Ariel Zweig, 
  • Cassandra Marcoux, 
  • Ashley Cruz, 
  • Shravanthi Gopalan Narayanan,
  • Sara Stoja. 

We were so glad to have WTS Boston Chapter Board of Directors in attendance – Vice President Sarah Bergman, Directors at Large Victoria C. Palek, and Lisa Juan

To open our event, Estey gave a brief overview of this year’s formal mentoring program group sessions:

  • January – Virtual Introductions (we all met each other and folks sent in their preferences as to who they’d like to be paired with)
  • February – “How to Bridge the Wage Gap Between Men and Women” with NHDOT’s Loretta Girard Doughty
  • March – “All About Confidence” MassDOT’s Lyris Bauduy-Liautaud
  • April – “Working in Management” – WSP’s Filomena Maybury
  • May – “Career Path” – HDR’s Pamela Yonkin

MassDOT speakers shared their insights on the importance of mentorship in the transportation industry, followed by a short graduation ceremony to honor all the mentees. Then we had a few minutes to chat with each other before strapping on our hard hats and safety vests before walking over to MassDOT’s Vent Building. The tour was really interesting and it was special to see how MassDOT keeps folks in the city’s tunnels safe (and breathing) in the city’s tunnels, especially during traffic jams and even when the power goes out. MassDOT’s John Czach and Tom Connelly took us around the building, explained the different elements, and patiently answered questions.

WTS Boston mentoring graduation cake.