8 MAY 1, 2002
Smoke Signals
Mentorship Program Will Be A Springboard To A Brighter Future For Tribal Members
If "pilot project" takes off, participants will choose between Tribal government and casino
operations each track leading to management or specialized careers.
By Chris Mercier
Like Martin Luther King, Grand Ronde Tribal
member Diana George has a dream.
"One day you can walk into this casino and
ask for the General Manager, ask for any other
manager, ask for a director, and they'll be Tribal
members," said Diana George. "That is my
dream."
George wants to see a Tribal Mentorship Pro
gram in place and she is dedicated to see it hap
pen. Just what precisely is this Tribal Mentorship
Program? The whole idea of a mentor conjures
up images of young Luke Skywalker and Yoda,
Mr. Meogi and the Karate Kid, and orange-robed
Buddhist monks. For George, though she
laughed at those comparisons, the mentorship is
no joke. This just might be the biggest thing to
hit Grand Ronde since that Casino down the road.
The Tribal Mentorship Program was developed
on the premise while there is a rather large con
tingent of available members who would be more
than willing to assume management and spe
cialized positions within Spirit Mountain Casino
and Tribal Government. The program would
churn out talented, skilled, and seasoned Tribal
workers, some ready to assume a score of posi
tions, others specially groomed for a certain slot.
George and others on the task force that devel
oped the program are confident it will work.
"This is a good opportunity and I'd say a per
manent program," said Director of Program Op
erations Chris Leno. "It shows a commitment by
the Tribe to long-term success. If it's not work
ing, we'll fix it. I see it expanding."
For now, the program still rests in "pilot project"
form and is due to begin with the hiring of the
Mentorship Program Coordinator during the
next two months. Since the coordinator will be
overseeing the whole program, George said, it's
the most important thing on the list at present.
The mentees are themselves those for whom
this program is designated. They are the ones
who hope to benefit most from the program, be
ing those well-rounded individuals that will some
day run the Tribe.
With that in mind, the Mentorship Program
rests in two divisions, one for the casino and one
for Tribal government, though both will answer
to the overall mentorship coordinator. Within
both divisions exist the two tracks for mentees,
the management track and the non-management
track.
The management track is available for those
Tribal members pursuing a post-secondary edu
cation and interested in positions that incorpo
rate greater responsibilities. Requirements will
include at least 72 college credit hours and proof
of ongoing educational pursuit.
The non-management track will focus mem
bers seeking more specialized avenues in their
career or those interested in getting firsthand,
comprehensive knowledge of overall casino and
Tribal government operations. Requirements
will be lighter for these mentees, needing only a
high school diploma or GED.
The program will mandate that participants
in both tracks be enrolled in college courses and
pursue a post-secondary degree. Those courses
should reflect the mentees' academic and career
goals. Most importantly, they will need to. make
a two-year commitment to the Mentorship Pro
gram. The 24-month program will have mentees
jumping through different jobs in different de
partments, the idea being to foster a thorough
understanding of Tribal operations. Those in the
Tribal Government Division, for example, will
spend 10 months in Human Resources, Finance,
Policy & Planning, Public Works and Govern
ment Executive Office Legal-Court. They will
also spend the remaining 14 months in programs
like Education, Member Services, Social Ser
vices, Cultural Resources, Natural Resources,
Health & Wellness, and Housing.
The Casino Division would run along similar
lines, putting mentees through various positions
in Food & Beverage, Table Games, Marketing,
etc.
While the mentees will be changing positions
on a regular basis, the mentors themselves, pro
vided they meet their own success, will stay at
the same positions and will generally be selected
from pre-existing employees, probably the heads
of their respective departments. The mentoring
duties will be tacked on to pre-existing ones, with
supplemental pay. Mentors could potentially
play a bigger role than planned, George said.
Some will enjoy the position and who knows,
maybe teach mentees a lesson beyond the realm
of work.
"The mentors can bring anything," she said.
"They might teach something that has nothing
to do with the job at all..."
The overall plan includes having two mentees
hired and ready to go by the summer, one for
the casino and another for Tribal governance -both
in non-management tracts. The program
will then incorporate two more participants ev
ery six months, the second session adding two
in the management tracts and then splitting the
additions from then on. This revolving door pro
cess will put less pressure on the mentors, as
well as allowing for the task force and program
coordinator to catch certain glitches.
"This is still going to be a pilot project," said
George. "We know that. There will be lots of
bugs to work out."
Bugs might include all manner of problems.
The first of course could be discovering that
mentees or mentors either fail to match up well
personality-wise, or just don't quite fit into the
scheme of the program. Conflict, Leno feels,
could very well be inevitable.
"Well, yes. The situation is delicate," he said.
"The whole idea of having a mentor and some
body looking over your shoulder... not every
body will find out they like that."
The greatest problem could be the program
faces is that although participants would be
making the two-year commitment as mentees,
in no way are they under any contractual obli
gation to remain with the Tribe or casino once
their time in the program expires. No problem,
George tells me, for the whole point of the pro
gram is to simply temper well-rounded individu
als and give them career direction, within or
beyond the borders of Grand Ronde. No hard
feelings, then.
"If mentees take this opportunity, it could open
doors for them," she said. "Even if they don't
stay with the Tribe."
Leno, who was interim Executive Officer while
the mentorship program was being developed,
took to the idea from the start, partially because
he saw it as a no-lose proposition, and also be
cause at one point during his life, he would have
liked the guidance it will provide.
"I went to college," he said. "And honestly, I
didn't really know what I wanted to do. I had
an idea of what I wanted to study, but as far as
my career..."
That is one aspect he particularly loves: the
academic and career advice. Mentees should
finish their commitments experienced and hav
ing a sound sense of how to run their careers.
"This (program) is not only about preparing
people," he told me. "But exposing people to dif
ferent opportunities and departments."
"With this (program), they'll learn about Tribal
government, council, and legal. We need more
people who know that," said George.
( )
I' I
Diana George
When Leno arrived on the scene one decade
ago, CTGR was nothing more than a few modu
lar buildings and 50 employees. Now the Tribe
for all economic purposes is a multi-million dol
lar corporation, retaining the services of hun
dreds. But frankly, if he and George thought
Tribal members were ready to run the whole
thing, then there wouldn't have been any rea
son to adopt the program.
With this program, George said, the number
of Tribal members who have "done well" would
hopefully increase. But getting over attitudes
might be the big obstacle.
"You have to have a balance of discipline," she
said.
That sense of entitlement among Tribal mem
bers is what made her realize the Tribe needed
a program of this nature. When Tribal Council
approved the program, George immediately vol
unteered for the task force in charge of assem
bling everything.
"The last three months, we really got focused,"
said George.
The task force included Leno, then-Executive
Officer Bob Martin, Education Manager Marion
Mercier, Connie Holmes and Fred Grinnell of
Human Resources. All worked full-time, which
slowed the development process as the task force
was an after hours affair. Human Resources
Director Camille Mercier, Sam Henny, and
George tasked the casino division. Overall,
George said, every major entity has been in
volved in one way Casino Executive Officer
Michael Moore, SMDC, the Tribe, Spirit Moun
tain Casino.
Neither George nor Leno takes complete credit
for developing the mentorship. Ideas for a model
came last year after a visitation by Tal Moore of
the Falmouth Institute. Founded in 1985,
Falmouth specializes in providing information
services and programs to North American In
dian Tribes, many of which face the same di
lemmas as Grand Ronde sudden wealth, an
unprepared Tribal body, and a casino. Moore
led a two-day workshop last year on the
mentorship, one that evidently gave some good
ideas to George and Leno both.
"One day, Tribal members will occupy all top
level positions," George said. "We've got Adam
Henny (Interim Marketing Director), Randy
Dugger (Guest Services Director). We're already
getting close." B