From Connection to Career Impact: Lessons from the University of San Diego's Knauss Mentorship Program

At the Knauss School of Business, we believe career preparation is most powerful when learning extends beyond the classroom. While classroom learning provides essential knowledge, it’s often through mentorship with alumni and industry professionals that students build the confidence and clarity needed for true career readiness and long-term growth.

In my current role, I’ve had the privilege of helping shape and grow the Knauss Mentorship Program at the University of San Diego, an effort rooted in a simple but powerful belief: that personalized, values-aligned mentorship can make all the difference in a student’s life and readiness for their career journey.

The Expanding Impact of Mentorship at Knauss

The Knauss Mentorship Program connects undergraduate and graduate business students with alumni and industry professionals for a high-impact, flexible mentoring experience. Originally launched as a graduate-only initiative, the program now supports students across eight undergraduate majors: Accounting, Business Administration, Business Analytics, Business Economics, Economics, Finance, International Business, and Marketing, along with our Full-Time MBA and three specialized master’s programs: Accounting, Business Analytics, and Finance.

Participants bring a wide range of lived experiences, identities, and career goals. Our mentors, most of whom are USD alumni, serve as career guides, sounding boards, and motivators. Many return semester after semester because of the meaningful connections they form and the satisfaction of giving back.

Beyond strong mentor retention, it’s the depth of these relationships that sets the program apart. Mentors often share that their conversations with students spark reflection, fresh perspectives, and a renewed connection to their own career journeys.

Enhancing Mentorship Through Structure and Strategy

The Knauss Mentorship Program is built with intention at every step. This fall, we’re excited to launch a new partnership with Mentor Collective, a platform that will help us streamline operations, improve communication, and strengthen support for both students and mentors.

Through this system, we’re able to facilitate thoughtful mentor-mentee pairings based on shared interests, career goals, and identities, while also simplifying logistics, tracking engagement, and enhancing the overall experience for everyone involved.

From Recruitment to Retention: Building Mentor Relationships

We have relied on several core approaches to bring mentors into the fold:

• Personalized Outreach: We use targeted messaging to connect with alumni who have previously expressed interest or been previously involved in our program. Our outreach highlights the specific impact mentors can have and how their guidance directly contributes to student growth and confidence.
• Leveraging Internal Networks: We collaborate closely with our Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and use insights from our Knauss Alumni Engagement Survey, along with referrals from faculty, staff, and past mentors, to identify strong mentor candidates.
• Word of Mouth and Personal Connections: Many alumni hear about the program through other mentors. When possible, we meet one-on-one with prospective mentors, either in person or over Zoom, to build rapport, answer questions, and foster early connection.
• Showcasing Impact: We actively share mentor and mentee testimonials, feedback, and data insights through our Knauss social media, program events, and internal reports to highlight the real difference mentors are making.
• Ease of Participation: We aim to make participation as easy and rewarding as possible. The sign-up process is streamlined, the time commitment is reasonable, and expectations are clearly communicated from the start.

Once mentors are on board, our focus shifts to ongoing engagement and support. We want every mentor to feel equipped, appreciated, and genuinely connected to our student community. Throughout the semester, we have provided regular check-ins, timely updates, and structured resources to help mentors stay confident in their role.

For those interested in peer connection, we’re introducing new community-building opportunities as part of this year’s program enhancements. These include redesigned events and intentional touchpoints that give mentors and mentees space to connect, share insights, and build relationships with one another.

We also prioritize recognition and gratitude. Mentees express their appreciation through thank-you videos and handwritten notes, while our team sends our mentors personalized messages and small Knauss-branded gifts as tokens of gratitude.

And perhaps most importantly, we’ve found that strong mentee engagement is one of the biggest drivers of mentor retention. When students show up prepared and engaged, mentors are more likely to return, and stay invested.

Engaging Mentors with Purpose

Alumni are at the heart of this program’s success. While we work closely with alumni engagement colleagues across the Knauss School, our team’s strategy centers on three core principles: make it personal, meaningful, and manageable.

• Personal & Authentic: We take the time to learn about each mentor’s background and interests. Whether it’s a personalized email, a Zoom coffee chat, or referencing a shared experience, those individual touches go a long way in building trust and long-term connection.
• Meaningful: We emphasize the real impact mentors can have by sharing student reflections, testimonials, and thank-you videos during end-of-semester events and campaigns across Knauss social media. We also highlight participation data and strong mentor retention to help mentors see how their time and insights truly shape students’ growth and confidence.
• Manageable: We respect our mentors’ time. With clear expectations, flexible participation options, and thoughtful program design, we keep the commitment low-lift and high-reward.
  
  

Growth by Design

This year, we’re on track to reach our largest mentorship cohort yet, and we’re setting our sights even higher. Our short-term goal is to increase mentee participation by 25%, with a long-term vision of ensuring every business student has the opportunity to be matched with a mentor during their time at USD.

We’re also focused on strengthening the experience itself, by enhancing student training, deepening mentor engagement, and refining our matching process. And at the center of it all is alumni feedback. When mentors tell us what’s working (and what isn’t), we listen and we evolve!

Final Thoughts: Advice for Other Institutions

If you’re looking to recruit alumni mentors in your own programs, my biggest piece of advice is this: don’t overcomplicate it. Start small, listen often, and focus on building genuine relationships.

At its core, the Knauss Mentorship Program is about helping students discover their voice, their value, and a deeper sense of direction in their professional journey. For our mentors, both alumni and industry professionals, it’s a chance to rediscover the joy of guiding and empowering someone else as they begin theirs.

 Reach out to the team at Mentor Collective to discuss how to activate alumni at your institution.

About Gelsey Baez

Gelsey Baez is an experienced student affairs professional with a background in mentorship, academic advising, career development, program design, and assessment. She currently serves as the Professional Development Manager at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business, where she played a key role in launching and growing the Knauss Mentorship Program.

Gelsey has worked at both public and private universities across San Diego, offering a well-rounded perspective on student support and institutional collaboration. She holds a master’s degree in Postsecondary Educational Leadership and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, both from San Diego State University.

Her work is grounded in equity, relationship-building, and the design of inclusive, student-centered programs that foster engagement, confidence, and professional growth.