Case Information

Zendesk: Building Female Leaders Through Mentorship
McElhaney, Kellie A., Ana Claire Mancia, and Ishita Rustagi
Publication date: 8/1/2019, pages 1-15

A new mentorship program launched with early success at Zendesk in the United States and is now expanding to all employees across 15 countries. Women at Zendesk supports junior-level women in achieving their personal and professional goals by providing them with role models, as well as opportunities to share knowledge and acknowledge their success. The company recognizes that female mentorship is necessary to cultivate the next generation of female leaders at Zendesk and to attain equity across all levels of the company. The program pairs female leaders with women in more junior roles to help mentees feel supported and inspired as they progress through the ranks of Zendesk. Zendesk is re-designing its program for rollout to its employees worldwide in locations with diverse cultures such as India, Sydney and Manila. This case explores how to design a mentorship program which is sustainable, successful across cultural differences, and which contributes to a company’s gender equity and leadership goals.

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