Celebrating a Special Mentor in My Life: Hadassah Evolve Director Randi Richmond

Some of us are always looking for a mentor to help take us to the next level. Some of us just shrug our shoulders at mentorship. But could there be a mentor already in our lives and we don’t know it?

We often think of a mentor as someone who is older, someone who can lead us on to a path that he or she has walked, which we want to follow;  someone who can teach us with kindness. We look for professional mentors who can help us achieve success in our fields.

But a mentor can also be – and often is – that person who believes in us, sees something in us that we don’t and makes those connections for us from which we grow. As Jews, we have gravitated toward this kind of mentorship through millennia.

Think about the Jewish chavruta (partnership) relationship. What is that? It’s our traditional way of studying Jewish texts, working with another person who will sharpen our understanding, challenge our assumptions and help us get to that next level.

Perhaps this type of mentorship is one of the reasons that, as Jews, we rise to success so quickly, regardless of how hard we fall along the way. It encourages us to ask questions and pairs us up so we can search for answers together with someone else. We are not alone; we are provided with networks and support – even before we recognize that we need them.

Randi Richmond, director of Evolve Hadassah: The Next Generation, is someone I came to know when we first worked with each other. Randi wanted to bring Hadassah Evolve women to Israel and provide them with leadership and community building opportunities. We worked together to make this happen for Hadassah. Through our partnership, I saw Randi’s genuine dedication, vision and skill in building each woman’s connection to Israel and leadership potential. To Randi, each person matters. She goes above and beyond to bring women closer to Israel, Hadassah and each other. Through our work, we became friends and now I see her as a mentor as well – someone in my corner, as I am in hers.

Though we have taken different professional and personal paths and we have different life goals, Randi’s support and direction have been invaluable.

Randi is a mentor to so many. She is always looking to elevate others and make the right connections for them by truly getting to know each person. Her goal is to help them discover and bring out their best selves as she connects them to our Jewish world and our community in a personalized way. What is also special about Randi is the unique way she reminds everyone that they, too, can be a mentor to someone else. What an incredibly Jewish way to move through the world!

As Jews, we believe that we are all responsible for each other. We are our brother’s keepers. As Jews, we pray in community; we need a minyan (quorum of 10 Jewish adults) for public prayer services. We don’t walk through life alone. We create partnerships.

Hadassah knows how to choose mentors who will inspire other women to become their very best. Thanks, Randi!