Passing the Torch: Stevens Alumni are Inspiring the Next Generation

Kim Savitsky ’17 M.Eng. ’18, manager of CMC Regulatory Affairs at Avidity Biosciences, Inc., remembers what it was like trying to figure out the first steps of her career path. “I was really involved in professional organizations,” she says. “I took advantage of opportunities these organizations offered to connect with alumni. Working with alumni and learning from their experiences was really helpful, especially as I got closer to graduation and was thinking about jobs and a career. I wanted to help today’s Stevens students in the same way.”

The Torchlight Mentors program offered the perfect opportunity to do just that. “I realized that I missed being in contact with students,” she says. “The mentorship program is a great way to contribute and be part of the Stevens community.”

The mentorship program, launched in 2023, is a fully online program hosted entirely through the StevensConnects platform. All of the mentoring resources, including messaging, scheduling and meetings, take place on the platform. Mentors and mentees are matched based on their goals, expertise, industry and major, and engage in a 13-week mentorship.

Savitsky’s mentee, Emily Johannan, Class of 2025, is getting ready to embark on her own career in the pharmaceutical industry. “I had been using LinkedIn to try to make connections, but StevensConnects makes it so much easier,” Johannan says. “I signed up for the mentorship program because I really wanted to learn directly from people working in the field, and especially from people who graduated from Stevens.”

“The matching was really awesome,” Johannan continues. “It’s great hearing from her experiences and she has a lot of connections in the field.”

Savitsky agrees. “I think it's a great match in terms of what Emily is looking to get out of the program,” she says. “We have been working on helping her pinpoint her interests and developing a strategy for applying for jobs, including tailoring her applications and resume to help her be more successful in getting interviews and phone screens.”

“The process as a whole has been really good,” Johannan says. “The platform has resources to establish what you want to accomplish at each meeting, which gave us a jumping-off point for our conversations. Kim and I used it in a semi-structured way, letting our conversation flow in other directions, too. Our time together was impactful, and I think that’s partly because of how StevensConnects is set up.”

The mentorship program includes at least three touchpoints with Stevens staff to ensure that mentors and mentees stay on track and feel supported. Resources are provided to prepare participants for the experience, including training articles, mentor and mentee handbooks and a guidebook for the pair to share. Six pre-set goals can be customized to fit the needs of the mentor’s experience and the mentee’s interests.

Johannan hopes more students will use the platform and sign up for mentoring. “Everyone on StevensConnects is super responsive and there are a lot of cool AI tools to help make crafting your messages easier,” she says. “It’s not just about job hunting, either. It was helpful to get my mentor’s advice on things like how to collaborate more effectively with my senior design project team.”

“I think my biggest takeaway, though, is just getting a better idea of what my industry is like by talking to someone who’s actually in it,” Johannan says.

For Savitsky, mentoring on StevensConnects helps her achieve the feeling of community she was seeking. “Being in touch with students and helping them navigate the challenges they face has been wonderful,” she says, adding that she also gains valuable insights from speaking with students. “As a manager, it is helpful to know what is on the minds of the next generation of employees, and to see where the trends are.”

“I think a lot of people would benefit from using the mentorship program at Stevens,” Johannan says. “I would be super excited to participate from the other side in the future, after I’ve graduated. It would be great to know what the next graduates are talking about and sharing my experiences with them.”