Mentorship Newsletter

New! Mentorship Program Quarterly Newsletter

March 2026

ANFP Mentors and mentees met for our quarterly networking call on Wednesday, February 11. These calls are an opportunity for mentors and mentees to come together and share ideas, experiences, and challenges within their professional and personal lives. During our last call, we discussed challenges of leadership and interdisciplinary management and how we can find ways to work through them with help from our peers.

Discussion Highlights

Mentors are great sounding boards to bounce ideas off (or frustrations) or help you navigate the gray areas within your role or facility.
Mentors can coach you on asking the right questions in challenging situations within your facilities that assist in your decision-making process.
Mentors shared resources that mentees were not aware of or had access to including:
- New Patient Information Packets template
- Harvey Mackay’s Weekly Advice Column
- Checklist for observing a kitchen operation

Members in rural locations, and those that are not getting support from leadership, mentioned the benefit of having access to a confidant and trusted advisor and how that has helped alleviate doubt and create a clearer path forward.
Mentors can often validate your concerns or help you see things from a new perspective, while mentees share thought-provoking insights and new approaches to age-old problems.

What are members saying about the ANFP Mentorship Program?

“Having a mentor provides me with an amazing resource for advice in navigating challenges such as menu development, diet standards, interdepartmental communication, and reassurance that I am not all alone out here in rural PA. Additionally, having someone I can vent my frustrations to and share my small wins with is invaluable!”

- Samantha Brown, CDM, CFPP, Director of Dining Services,

Penn Highlands Healthcare Senior Living

Resources

Be sure to check our ANFP Mentorship page regularly as we continue to update and add new resources including Top 10 Reasons You Need a Mentor and most recently, the Top 10 Reasons to Become an ANFP Mentor.

In addition to our Conversation Starters tool, consider this question for your next meeting: How do you manage work-life balance? or How do you manage stress?

We’ll be eager to hear your responses during our next call to help others find work-life balance.

Join Us! Quarterly Mentor Networking Call

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, April 15, at 2:00 PM CT for our next mentor networking call. Please click here to register for the call. We hope to see you and your mentor/mentee on the call!

We encourage the program participants to share this newsletter with fellow members and encourage them to apply as a mentor or mentee.

The ANFP Mentorship Program is a member benefit for all ANFP members as well as prospective students enrolled in ANFP approved programs. The Mentorship Program is a community of members at varying levels of their career that learn from one another, cultivate and encourage individual growth, and provide support.

Questions? E-mail Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals
info@ANFPonline.org | 800.323.1908

PO Box 3610 | St. Charles, IL 60174