Our Story
Our story starts with two physicists. Two young women from different parts of the world that wanted to merge their networks to create an even stronger one for the next generation of women. They decided these networks could be built and sustained with mentors, and wanted to form a global mentorship program to help young women succeed.
The Cake Shop
They wanted to design the program such that the mentors could teach practical tools and share advice with their mentees on important topics such as cold emailing, delivering an effective presentation, and speaking up in uncomfortable environements. The first curriculum for the Encourage Her Mentorship Program was designed in a cake shop - what better beginning could there be?
Founding Mentors
Uliana Durbak
KU Leuven
Sam Davis
CalTech
Celia Dowling
University of Melbourne
Laura Adamkovičová
Comenius University
Hana Warner
College of William & Mary
Eloise Chakour
McGill University
Assemble the Team
After fleshing out the details, they did what they encourage others to do: get outside of your comfort zone and reach out. They reached out to other amazing students in their network to recruit as mentors. Working together, across an ocean, they assembled a team of 6 additional mentors - 8 total - from 6 different countries to start this program in their communities.
Now, none of this could have been done without the mentors featured on the left. These ladies went out of their way to start the first Encourage Her programs, working hard to make sure that it was as valuable as possible for their mentees - often times creating their own resources.
Program to Non-Profit
With positive feedback, the motivation to expand, and help from more passionate individuals and advisors, their mentorship program grew into the non-profit organization we are today, ready to scale up and move outward.
Now as an organization with an important mission and a powerful team, we are working to expand our programs globally.
Meet Our Co-Founders
Kaitlin Gili and Dominika Ďurovčíková
"As someone that didn't always have a mentor to guide me in the right direction, being the first from my home to go to a 4-year university, I wanted to give younger students an opportunity that I never had."
-Kaitlin Gili, Co-founder
“Looking back at my journey so far, I can absolutely appreciate how much meeting a single inspirational mentor can help. With successful mentorship comes experience, growth, network, and, ultimately, confidence. I wanted to help other young women embark on this journey too.”
-Dominika Ďurovčíková, Co-founder