VBA Women’s Mentorship Program
2025 Attendee Portal
Welcome to the 2025 VBA Women’s Mentorship Program!
Over the course of ten months, we will be walking through a series of exercises to increase self-awareness, identifying unique gifts and what YOU bring to the table and how to differentiate your value.
At the end of the program, you will have created and solidified a personal brand that you can be ready, proud and excited to share!
Important Dates
In-Person Events
- February 13 from 2:00-4:00p.m. – Virtual
- May 1 – Women & Allies Conference – Hilton BWI Hotel (Registration is offered at a reduced rate of $275/person) (optional add-on)
- July-September – Regional Mid-Year Meet-ups (Dates TBD)
- December 3 from 9:30am-12:00pm - Closing Program in Richmond, VA
- December 3-4 (afternoon kick-off) 2025 Women in Banking at the Westin Hotel in Richmond, VA (hotel reservation link will be sent out to you over the summer) – Registration to this program is included in the Mentorship Program.
Virtual Trainings & REcordings
- February 13 – Kick-off Session
- March 28 from 9:00-10:00am: Understanding & Getting Started on Your Personal Brand Journey
Mentor Check-Ins/Training (Mentors Only):
Each session will run from 9:00-10:00am and include 30 minutes of training and 30 minutes of roundtable/open discussion.
- March 13: Mentor Training – Helping Your Mentee Get the Most Out of the Program
- June 12: Working with Mentees to Develop/Capitalize on Their Strengths
Mentee Check-ins/Training (Geared for the mentees/mentors welcome)
Each session will run from 9:00-10:00am and include 30 minutes of training and 30 minutes of roundtable/open discussion.
- June 5: Influencing With Your Strengths
- September 4: Moving Ahead with Successful Conversations
Meet the 2025 Tour Guide
We are excited to welcome Donna Highfill as the 2025 program’s guide. Donna will be facilitating sessions at the kick-off and closing of the program as well as facilitating the two check-ins with the mentors and mentees.
About Donna:
Donna Highfill brings over 30 years of experience as an organizational development specialist and change consultant with a focus on improving performance. She has also held executive roles in organizations including WR Berkley, Chesapeake Bank and SunTrust (now Truist).
Working with leadership, Donna implements key change strategies with clients that range from Community Banks and manufacturing companies to Fortune 500 organizations including Regions Bank, Citizens and others. Most recently, Donna has worked with several tech consulting firms specializing around successful implementation of new systems.
She is a personal change coach, working with leaders across the country. She is also a published author of four books, with over 50+ articles published in HuffPost, Across the Board, and others. She has also been a guest blogger on multiple websites and has been an active participant on HuffPost Live. Donna speaks to groups across the country on topics such as change management, leadership and confidence.
Donna graduated from Wake Forest University and completed master’s level courses at Hollins University. Certifications include SHRM-SCP, ATD CPLP, Prosci, Predictive Index and MBTI.
Virtual Training Recordings
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February 13 – Kick-off Session
- Click here to access the recording (Passcode: Ca6x@&&z)
Mentor/Mentee Meeting Resources
Below are links to three fillable resources to help kickstart and guide your meetings. Feel free to download to use as needed.
- Mentor/Mentee Setting the Framework (Fillable)
- Mentor/Mentee First Meeting Tool (Fillable)
- Mentor/Mentee Regular Meeting Tool (Fillable)
Books for Discussion
StandOut 2.0: Assess Your Strengths, Find Your Edge, Win at Work
At the kick-off session, each participant (mentor and mentee) will receive a copy of Marcus Buckingham’s book StandOut 2.0: Assess Your Strengths, Find Your Edge, Win at Work.
Included in the book is a code to complete StandOut Strengths assessment and exercises will follow to help incorporate participant’s respective strengths into the development of their personal brand.
Content Releases
Every other month, participants will receive a “content release” that will include videos, exercises, and resources to help guide your experience. These are meant to help support and guide conversations, but not to dictate – we encourage you to dive into material that will help you in creating your brand, achieving your goal (and having a great experience along the way!).
The content releases will be sent out the first Friday of the month (dates noted below).
April 4 – Building the knowledge of your bank – IT All starts with your organization!
Goal: To help participants understand the “how” and “why” behind their bank which will ultimately help link their personal brand statement to the work their bank does and help them identify the unique value they bring to their bank.
June 6 – Understanding Your Strengths, Values and How They Play Into Your Brand
Goal: Participants will complete and assess their StrengthsFinder’s and identify how their individual strengths/values plays into their contribution at the bank/in their role as well as what pieces are important to them to be part of their personal brand statement.
August 1 – discovering your value proposition and establishing the foundation of Your brand
Goal: Participants will be presented exercises to help them identify their audience, identify what they want others to think when their name comes up in conversation/they walk into a room as well as how their strengths and values translate into their value proposition. At the end of the exercise, participants will have a (rough) draft of a brand statement.
October 3 – polishing your Brand Statement & Creating an Elevator Pitch
Goal: The “rubber meets the road” – This content release will provide a framework for participants to create a concise, polished brand statement helping them to identify desired impact at their bank.
Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsor!
