The mentors you need…

… are people you already know.

Mentoring doesn’t have to begin with a program or a pairing with a perfect mentor.

Mentorvention helps people and organizations see mentoring differently, by recognizing the people, perspectives, and experiences that can help us grow.

Everyone needs a mentor

I know I did — and it changed my life.

The Mentorvention philosophy emerged from:

  • a failed mentoring program,
  • a career disruption,
  • and one transformative mentoring relationship.

I’m Dave. I’ve spent almost 30 years teaching and guiding students and clients, and I’m dedicated to helping the next generation find their direction. I’m a professor, researcher, author, and mentoring strategist, and I help people and organizations rethink how mentoring happens.

My work challenges one of the most persistent assumptions about mentoring: that growth depends upon finding one ideal mentor. Instead, I help people recognize and build a network of developmental relationships drawing upon different people for different perspectives at different moments.

Through Mentorvention, I bring research, practical frameworks, and more than two decades of experience as an educator and mentor into workshops, consulting, speaking, and individual development.

What can Mentorvention help you achieve?

Build a Mentoring Network

Stop searching for the one perfect mentor.

INFUSE helps people identify whose perspective is missing and intentionally build a broader, more useful network of developmental relationships.

Explore INFUSE

You Own Your Origin Story

The experiences that shaped you can become a source of confidence, connection, and leadership. You Own Your Origin Story helps people discover the meaning in their own stories—and learn how to use them.

Explore YOYOS

Build Better Mentoring

Mentoring programs don’t succeed simply because people have been matched. Mentorvention works with organizations to create mentoring experiences that encourage connection, perspective, agency, and lasting developmental relationships.

Work with Mentorvention

What people are saying

  • This helped me internalize what I can bring to the table, and what I could bring my customers that others couldn’t.
    Theo E.
  • You need this kind of guidance and assistance, especially when you’re going into something where you don’t know what is going to happen.
    Ben C.
  • I liked the structure and I liked the assignments – they really make you put everything into perspective.
    Brooke M.
  • This program helped me build my own confidence, to know what I am good at and how I can promote myself.
    Elizabeth M.
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Publications and presentations include:

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Now available as a book!

This book is for anyone navigating the early stages of their career or considering a transition—anyone ready to take control of their professional journey. It’s all about building meaningful mentoring relationships and defining your own path to success.

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