OPERA America Announces Inaugural Participants For Mentorship Program For Women

By Francisco Salazar

OPERA America has announced that protégés and mentors have been selected for the organization’s new Mentorship Program for Women.

The Mentorship Program for Women is intended to provide a unique opportunity for promising female administrators  (protégés) in the field to be paired with established leaders (mentors), to help the protégés identify advancement barriers and create a plan for professional growth.

This year three protégé/mentor pairings were selected for the first year of OPERA America’s Mentorship Program for Women. The pairings include protégé Piper Gunnarson, Executive Director of On Site Opera and mentor Annie Burridge, General Director and CEO of the Austin Opera and protégé Katie Preissner, Director of Production at Opera Colorado and mentor Clare Burovac, Director of Artistic Operations at the Portland Opera. The final pairing is protégé Mitra Sadeghpour, Director of Opera of the University of Northern Iowa and mentor Stacy Brightman, Vice President, Education and Community Engagement of the LA Opera.

The Mentorship Program was created to help further the goals of OPERA America’s Women’s Opera Network (WON). Kathryn Smith, chair of the Women’s Opera Network Steering Committee and general director of Madison Opera said,“With its emphasis on building deep relationships between promising administrators and established leaders, OPERA America’s Mentorship Program for Women has the capacity to create real change for the participants and by extension the field.

The mentors and protégés will work together during 2018 through remote as well as in-person sessions, such as at Opera Conference 2018 in June in St. Louis and in site visits to the mentors’ opera companies.

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