What’s My Type? Characteristics of Quality Mentoring Relationships for Nonprofit Latina CEOs as Mentees in California

Mentoring research that explores the experiences of executive leaders as mentees is limited, and almost non-existent, for women of color nonprofit chief executive officers (CEOs). Not only is existing literature limited, it does not intentionally explore how intersectionality influences the development of quality mentoring relationships for women of color executive leaders. The term Latina Leadership Development (LDD) has been established as a dedicated concept related to the leadership development of Latinas in this study. The purpose of the study was to explore how Latina nonprofit executive leaders in California leveraged existing social capital and mentoring relationships as mentees that influenced their self-efficacy and leadership development. Research was conducted between 2017 and 2020 with 10 Latina nonprofit CEOs in California utilizing qualitative research methodology. A hermeneutic phenomenological research design was applied utilizing hermeneutic looping techniques during a nine-step data analysis process to ensure participants’ perceptions of their lived experiences remained at the core of this study. This paper presents two themes produced by the study: (a) An evolution of mentorship relationship type and function exists with a preference for informal mentoring relationships that provide psychosocial supportive functioning, and (b) A constellation of mentors from diverse racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds are preferred and integral to LLD. This study empirically extends existing scholarship by showing how intersectionality and specific characteristics of mentoring relationships may be most beneficial for Latina and women of color nonprofit CEOs. Keywords: mentoring relationship, nonprofit organization, Latina chief executive leader, social capital, community cultural wealth typology, intersectionality, hermeneutic phenomenology