The first group of Distinguished Fellows was agreed upon by the National Leadership Team in May 2018 from the entire list of Fellows, using distinct criteria that demonstrated their continued dedication to the Society since becoming a Fellow.  The below Distinguished Fellows constitute the Advisory Committee to the Fellows Leadership above.

Each of SAME’s 17 regions has a Fellows Regional Point of Contact to ensure that Fellows throughout each region are kept abreast of happenings within the Academy of Fellows and to be able to solicit support for local, regional and national events.

Communications

E-mails pertaining to Fellows are sent via the SAME database.  It is imperative that your record is up-to-date if you want to receive Fellows Communications.  To update your record, you must login (top of the page) and then click on "Member Account" in the left menu.

SAME’s strategic plan calls for establishing a Society-wide strategy, to promote and advance a robust and integrated mentoring program encompassing all levels of the Society National Headquarters, Posts, and Individual Members. Building on our historic commitment to mentoring, the Academy of Fellows (AOF) is accepting the challenge to be a mentoring resource within SAME, and asking our members to actively join the rank of “Mentor” by increasing their engagement in SAME mentoring activities - both group and individual (one-on-one) - consistent with our Charge and Pledge.

The AOF includes over 800 Fellows, each with the capacity to serve as a mentor to others.  As a Fellow, you can share your knowledge, skills and expertise to shape the future by positively impacting the career paths of others through your mentoring engagement.  By serving as a mentor to tomorrow's leaders, you uphold the dignity and quality of the profession and advance the professionalism of SAME Members.  As a mentor, you interact and communicate with mentees, on a consistent basis, both in-person or by other means, and serve them in many important roles, including:

Advocate

• Arrange for the mentee to participate in high-visibility activities within your organization and in SAME-sponsored activities.
• Encourage members to take a leadership role in SAME at the Post, Regional or National level. Show interest in their participation and become a resource for information.

Advisor

• Communicate the formal and informal realities of career progression.
• Recommend beneficial training opportunities (i.e. SAME-sponsored opportunities).
• Recommend appropriate strategies for career direction, and act as a sounding board for ideas and career concerns.
• Periodicly review mentee’s professional development plan.
• Identify resources to help the mentee solve specific problems, then follow up to ensure that the referred resources were useful or engage in dialog to answer questions.

Coach

• Clarify performance goals and developmental needs.
• Demonstrate managerial, communications and technical skills.
• Recommend specific behaviors for professional and individual development success.

Sponsor

• Expand the mentee’s network of professional contacts, starting with introductions to colleagues at SAME events that you attend together.
• Bring together different mentees who might mutually benefit by networking and collaborating with each other.
• Connect mentees with appropriate educational or employment opportunities.
• Help members pursue professional licensing or certification by providing access to resources.
• Engage mentees in Post committee initiatives or other activities to provide a forum for peer group interaction.

Engineering & Construction Camps – Actively engage in recruiting potential young professionals to volunteer and serve as mentors, squad leaders, logistical support, and other staff positions that ensures the camps continued success. Mentor recruitment activities are in high gear January – June. To learn more about camp mentor recruitment and how you can help, visit the main camps page. You can also contact Scott Prosuch, AOF Vice-chair for External Relations and camp director for the US Air Force Academy camp.

Leader Development Program – Serve as a mentor to help shepherd the professional development of these promising professionals throughout the program year. In this role, you will provide individual professional guidance and support to advance their leadership skills. Mentors are typically recruited in April of each year. To learn more, visit the main LDP page. or contact Susan Thames, LDP Mentor POC.

Young Professionals Community of Interest – Foster the relationship that has been forged with the Young Professionals Community of Interest (COI). Support the joint activities at National events, as well as. networking lunches, co-hosted happy hours, professional development webinars, speed mentoring, and one-on-one connections at the Post level. To learn more about Young Professionals, visit the YP COI page, or contact James Buckingham, the YP Mentoring POC, or Philios Angelides, the AOF Mentoring POC.

Finding the right mentor can help you progress and elevate your career. With over 800 members, there is a Fellow who understands your position, functional area, and goals and aspiration. Mentoring topics will cover the full continuum of an individual’s career development path – from school, to college, to career start and progression to management and leadership roles. Whether you are active military, federal civilian, or private industry employee, or still in school or college, AOF can match you with a successful professional to help shape your skills, navigate your career path, and support you in accessing the resources necessary to advance. Please refer to the resource support template in SAME Mentoring Guide (appendix B) for further guidance in identifying opportunities for Fellow engagement in various forums.

Fellows can also be a great resource in mentoring SAME Posts to implement various initiatives or programs that have a mentoring focus - from developing candidates for Fellow recognition to organizing programs that support students, young professionals, and industry firms.  Please reference the link to the Post Mentoring Dashboard template in SAME Mentoring Guide (appendix B) for additional information on this resource.

Contact Philios Angelides, AOF Mentoring POC.

Mentoring Matters No Matter Where (video)

Presenter: Colonel Ray Kimball, Chief of Faculty Learning, Innovation, Collaboration, and Research and Director of the Center for Junior Officers, U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Join Col Kimball on a prerecorded discussion on why mentoring matters. Topics include whether or not mentoring is different for enlisted, officers, and industry; the difference between coaching and mentoring; whether or not supervisors can or should be mentors; peer mentoring; and cross-gender/cross-ethnicity mentoring. This is a valuable webinar for those looking for the perfect mentor and those wishing to be true leaders with the capacity to mentor others.

Communicate your Post’s mentoring activities and relevant stories by completing this webform for our compilation of best practices and lessons learned.