Mentorship, networking and recruitment will look different post-2020. Enter GrasshoppHer.
GrasshoppHer: A Mobile Application
GrasshoppHer is a mobile app that connects female and non-binary mentees and mentors.
While women make up 47% of the workforce, they only account for 21.2% of leadership roles. Worse, statistics show that there is a disproportionately low number of women mentors and role models in the workforce.
On the app, users can create profiles and connect with mentors and mentees beyond their established communities and networks. Access to this network of mentors and sponsors can provide access to role models, conversations, and opportunities for mentees to get their foot in the door. One can check out GrasshoppHer’s website for more information.
Heather Miller: The Founder’s Story
The founder, Heather Miller is a lawyer with deep ties to the Toronto and legal communities. Born and raised in Toronto, Heather is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School.
As a childhood ballerina, Heather twirled her way to The National Ballet School of Canada. While she lived out her tutu-filled fantasies, she witnessed the troubles, such as eating disorders and bullying, that her young female peers, who lacked leadership and guidance, experienced. She made a vow that one day she would put herself in the position to make a difference. She went to law school pursuing the potential to create real, positive change. She worked to help low-income individuals and those in the mental health system find necessary support and resources, where the state, government, and their networks were failing them.
Later in her professional life, she continued to see gaps and set out on her next mission to pursue equality in the workplace. This was the impetus for her “aha-moment.” Through these very different life experiences, she identified a common problem: a lack of access to support, guidance, and mentorship. She created GrasshoppHer to build a community where women can come together to inspire each other and provide a leg up.
Female Mentorship in the Canadian Legal Community
While the app was developed to cater to the broader community, the legal community faces the same systemic problems that GrasshoppHer seeks to solve. Mentorship is already a crucial part of the fabric of the legal community, but more can be done to connect women mentees with mentors and role models in the industry. Furthermore, given the current global pandemic and its impact on legal recruiting, it is more important than ever that mentorship conversations and networking opportunities take place virtually and on a digital platform. GrasshoppHer is working to ensure that women in the Canadian Legal community have access to each other and the benefits that knowledge-sharing provides. This will be incredibly important this year given that OCIs will be held virtually. If you are interested in joining the community, sign up for the app!
Please feel free to reach out to Heather with questions or to learn how GrasshoppHer can work with your organization: contact Heather Miller at [email protected]
If you are interested in joining the community, sign up for the app below if you have an iPhone. Android users can sign up here.
