by Dee Dee Mozeleski, Sr. Vice President and Exec. Director & Senior Advisor to the President
The City College of New York and the Foundation for City College

Over the past several weeks, I have been meeting with students as part of an internship interview process. Full of curiosity, ambition, and thoughtful questions spanning how to begin building a career in advancement and advancement-collaborative roles. These conversations are always energizing. Many students ask some version of the same questions: How do I get started? Who helps me navigate this field?

These questions are about entry—but it is also a question about belonging.

For many, structured mentorship programs are one of the first doorways into our profession. They provide access to guidance, to networks, and to a clearer understanding of what advancement work entails. Mentorship, in this way, plays a critical role in helping individuals take those first steps with confidence and direction. With a great mentor, you can really develop a space that allows for all of the questions one might not be ready to share with others - especially not with supervisors or colleagues.

But as I listen to these students—and reflect on the trajectories of so many colleagues across our field—I am reminded that mentorship, while essential, is only part of the equation.

If mentorship helps you enter the field then sponsorship helps you move through it. I heard that this week from Robert Henry, a wonderful mentor and sponsor with another tremendous organization: CASE.

Mentorship and sponsorship are often spoken about interchangeably, but they serve distinct and equally important functions. A mentor helps you grow—offering perspective, sharing experiences, and helping you make sense of challenges and opportunities. Mentorship is often rooted in conversation: thoughtful, reflective, and grounded in trust. It is where confidence is built and where ideas can take shape.

A sponsor, by contrast, helps you advance. Sponsors use their influence and credibility to advocate for you in spaces you may not yet have access to. They are the ones who place your name in rooms you are not in, who speak to your strengths when opportunities arise, and who ensure that your work and potential are visible to others. Sponsorship is not just about guidance—it is about action. Like many of you, I have had both and likely used ‘mentor’ to describe those people because it was the first way our relationships were built.

Both roles matter. But too often, we focus our attention on mentorship without being as intentional about sponsorship.

This distinction is particularly important in advancement where relationships, visibility, and access are central to success. It is also critical as we continue to think about equity within our field. Mentorship can help individuals build the skills and confidence needed to succeed. Sponsorship helps ensure that opportunity itself is more broadly and equitably distributed.

For organizations like Association of Fundraising Professionals, mentorship programs are a vital part of this ecosystem; it is one of the many reasons our chapter prioritizes work done through our Mentorship Committee. Mentorships create structured opportunities for connection and learning. They help to demystify a profession that can otherwise feel opaque to those entering it. The Committee is always looking ahead to the new cohort recruitment and I hope you will consider participating as either a mentee or a mentor!

As we continue to strengthen these efforts, we should also consider how to more intentionally cultivate sponsorship.

This does not necessarily mean formalizing sponsorship in the same way we do mentorship, though there may be opportunities to do so. More often, it requires a shift in mindset. It asks those of us in positions of leadership to think beyond advising and toward advocating. It asks us to be deliberate about whose voices we are amplifying, whose names we are putting forward, and how we are helping others gain visibility in meaningful ways.

It also invites us to think about mentorship and sponsorship not as separate or static roles, but as part of a continuum. A relationship that begins with mentorship—grounded in conversation and trust—can, over time, evolve into sponsorship, as confidence in an individual’s abilities grows and as opportunities for advocacy emerge.

For those entering the field, this perspective can be equally empowering. It encourages a more expansive understanding of what support can look like—and a greater awareness of what may be needed at different stages of a career. There are moments when guidance and reflection are most valuable. Then there are moments when visibility and advocacy become essential.

Ultimately, both mentorship and sponsorship are expressions of investment in people, in institutions, and in the future of our profession. They reflect a belief that our work is not only about meeting immediate goals, but about building leadership and capacity for the long term.

As advancement professionals, we understand the power of relationships. We cultivate them every day—with donors, alumni, partners, and communities. The same intentionality should guide how we support one another.

If we can do that—if we can pair the insight and care of mentorship with the action and advocacy of sponsorship—we will not only help individuals enter our field, but ensure they have the opportunity to grow, to lead, and to thrive within it.

Dee Dee Mozeleski is the Senior Vice President & Executive Director for the Office of Institutional Advancement, Communications & External Relations at The City College of New York and also serves as the Senior Advisor to the President. She serves on a number of boards including AFP-NYC, The National Scholarship Providers Association and FamilyKind and is a Cabinet Member of CASE District II. At City, she leads a wonderful team of professionals who are all working toward a billion dollar - “Doing Remarkable Things Together” campaign. She has been recognized by CASE District II, City & State, and Crain’s as a leader across multiple categories including workforce development, advancement, communications and higher education. She is the outgoing co-chair of the AFP-NYC Mentorship Committee.