SPOTLIGHT: Mentorship: The Gift that Never Stops Giving with Joni $20
Change lives–starting with yours.
Mentorship can create an environment where young people can feel seen and supported, and build identity and a sense of belonging. Through mentorship, one becomes exposed to new ideas and opportunities to expand beyond their background or circumstances.
As a child of immigrants, Joni sought out mentors from an early age and was fortunate to find them at the Feminist Press and other women-led non-profit organizations. She remembers those women who fed her books, gave her tips on how to dress, cope with family dysfunction, sexism, and other professional and personal challenges, and how to care for herself at a very early age.
“My women mentors saved me from the street, and helped me in countless ways.” recounts Joni.
But mentoring not only saved her life. It helped her to find purpose and passion, decades after those teen years, when she lost everything.
Joni shares, “I lost my partner, my career, my home, and everything I spent a lifetime building. Becoming a mentor through Ninos del Lago, the Fresh Air Fund, the International Center of New York and, later the Pen America “Writing in the Schools” Program transformed my life. After losing myself, I found myself again when I was at a new low in my life.”
Wherever you are in your career, family life or stage of life, mentoring can help reconnect you with your sense of purpose – and passions – that may have long become a distant memory.
At a profound level, mentoring can help you connect with your divine feminine self in ways you could never have imagined.
In this workshop, we’ll explore the many ways mentoring can have a profound impact on your sense of sense – while also making a significant contribution to young people in your community. As well as enriching your connection with your family, friends, and colleagues.
Though exploratory, assessments and creative activities , you’ll re-discover your “Why” and sense of purpose, and chart a path to re-claiming your passion during the
next chapter of your life.
Who knows, you may also discover yourself traveling to place you never dreamed of.
For women of any age whether you are seeking a mentor or looking to be a mentor. Or both.
This Workshop is especially designed for women who are going through a life transition. Be it an empty nest, career transition, or existential crisis.
Joni Daidone is a creative activist, writer, and curator living in Harlem/Hamilton Heights. She writes plays, short fiction, and prose poems as a way to connect to the divine and as a voice for the often-silenced feminine spirit. Her career spans roles as Global Creative Director, Multimedia Publishing Director, Art Gallery Owner/Artist Rep, Community Arts Activist, Non-Profit Branding and Fundraising Consultant and International Children’s Camp NGO Board Member. An ESL Writing Tutor and Mentor, she works with immigrants from over 26 countries. Leaving the corporate world and never looking back, she focuses on her lifelong passions: community activism, storytelling, skill-sharing, mentoring, and singing in a choir.
After 9/11 turned Joni’s career and life upside down, she became a relief worker with Ground Zero Temporary Housing securing shelter, temporary housing, meals, clothes and basic essentials for the thousands of emergency and relief works who traveled to NYC from across the country. After the initial crisis, she discovered a long term need. Supporting the immigrant population, particularly the Muslim, Arabic and Middle Eastern immigrants who became the target of xenophobia and racism. Since that time, Joni has mentored and tutored dozens of recent immigrants and at-risk youth through non-profit youth and immigrant rights organizations including the Fresh Air Fund, Covenant House, EPIC Youth Development, Pen America “Writing in the Schools” Program and The International Center of New York. She is also a frequent contributor to StoryCorps, The Moth, Open Mic and Storytelling Salons across NYC.