Editor's Letter
By Tanja Kern, Associate Publisher & Editorial Director
A New Mentorship Program for Women in the Flooring Industry
Mohawk presented a donation of $50,000 to Women in the Floorcovering Industry to help fund its networking and professional development programs.
Women in the Floorcovering Industry (WIFI), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers women in the flooring industry celebrated its first in-person meet-up at The International Surfaces Event in Las Vegas.
Hosted by Mohawk, the WIFI Breakfast Club event invited attendees to learn more about the organization and a new mentorship program. At the event, Mohawk presented a donation of $50,000 to the organization to help fund its networking and professional development programs.
The goal of the program, which matches mentors to mentees, is to accelerate the professional development of mentees. All members of WIFI are eligible to participate in the mentoring program, and participants can join from any segment of the industry.
Celebrating WIFI’s first gathering at TISE 2023. From left: Tanja Kern, editorial director and associate publisher, Floor Trends; Amy Rush-Imber, publisher, Floor Covering Weekly; Mohawk President Paul De Cock; and Dana Teague, president of strategic markets, Informa.
The mentoring program is six months in length, consisting of eight sessions with each mentor and mentee match. At minimum, you should plan to devote one hour every three weeks to the program. Each mentor/mentee match will pick meeting times that work with their schedules. WIFI will provide training to the mentors and also "Table Topics" for each session. Sessions will be virtual, using video conference software such as Zoom or MS Teams. Training will be provided to mentors in March 2023 and through on-going monthly calls. This cohort of mentee/mentor matches will start in April and run through September 2023.
To learn more, visit, womeninflooring.org.
Tanja Kern, associate publisher and editorial director of Floor Trends, joined BNP Media in 2016. With more than 20 years of editorial and strategic communications experience in architecture and design, Tanja combines her journalistic acumen with a passion for flooring. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
