November 18, 2009 marked the close of the 2009 CIO Mentor Program, Elevate. A graduation ceremony was held at the Beaumont IT building in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Mentors, mentees, and the program’s support staff enjoyed a commencement talk by Paul Peabody, CIO of Beaumont Hospitals as well as hors’ d’oeuvres and “responsible beverages.”

The Elevate program is moving into is junior year and has been extremely successful. Overseen by Business and Executive Coach Barry Demp, of Barry Demp Coaching, the Mentoring Program pairs today’s top IT leaders with the Midwest’s best CIOs. The mentor and mentoree pairs meet one hour per month for a year, supplemented by quarterly best practices meetings (for mentors) and biannual workshops (for mentees). In an initial kickoff meeting, mentees are guided through the process of creating value for themselves throughout the program, identifying goals before the first meeting and are invited to contact their mentor. Mentors have an initial kickoff session as well, and are asked to work with their mentee to create a meeting schedule that works with both parties. Periodic meetings throughout the year give mentors and mentees the opportunity to evaluate their experience and give feedback to program facilitators.

Mentors have quarterly best practices webinars with Barry Demp, where they explore topics such as the various distinctions of mentoring, how to incorporate coaching in the experience and how to become a mentor for life. This year there were 18 participants chosen to participate in the program, nine progressive CIOs and nine aspiring IT leaders from the Michigan technology community.

2009 Mentees included:

• Charles Flagg, Oakland Community College
• Jeffrey Payne, MGM Grand Detroit
• Joseph Richards, R.L. Polk & Co.
• Justin Taylor, Continental Automotive
• Kayla LeBlanc, Oakland Community College
• Mark Blakeslee, John Deere Landscapes
• Steven McCue, City of Birmingham
• Steven Robert, billhighway.com
• Vincent Williams, Awecomm Technologies

• Joe Sawasky, CIO, Wayne State University
• David Behen, CIO, Washtenaw County
• Ruthanne Largent, CIO, MGM Grand Detroit
• Sue McGuire, CIO, Thetford
• Roger Rehm, CIO Central Michigan University
• Jim House, CIO, GKN
• Paul Peabody, CIO, Beaumont Health Systems
• Ken Theis, CIO, State of Michigan
• Michael Thibideau, CIO, Webasto Roof Systems Inc

Kayla LeBlanc, Director of Academic Technology at Oakland Community College, shared her thoughts on the mentor program. “[The program] helped me gain confidence in myself and my leadership skills. Having a mentor available to coach me through my challenges was so valuable. Not only did I set professional goals for myself, I also achieved personal goals as well. That was a surprising bonus!” Now that the 2009 program has come to a close, applications are now being accepted for the 2010 program which is scheduled to begin in January.

To read more testimonials from the CIO Mentor and mentees and learn more about the CIO Mentor Program, Elevate, visit www.midwesttechnologyleaders.com or www.automationalley.com.