Unique challenges face female entrepreneurs and Julie Kantor, founder of training firm Twomentor, is an expert in solving some of these issues.

“I think that there’s a key word here that we don’t talk about enough. The issue is sponsorship,” said Kantor.

For white men, the process of creating relationships with senior coworkers — often also white men — is much easier. “People tend to sponsor in their own likeness… Men are 46 percent more likely to have a sponsor,” Kantor told What’s Working in Washington.

“Entrepreneurship is built on sponsorship. The ‘old boys’ network is built on sponsorship. It’s critical that, as we work at Twomentor, we help companies build both mentoring and sponsorship initiatives,” she said.

“We need to get women in this game of sponsorship. It’s critical.” By using sponsorship to help women and people of color advance in their careers, they in turn can sponsor others.

Sponsorship initiatives also increase retention rates, especially for millennials, Kantor said.

“Last year, 21 percent of millennials left their jobs in America. Over 60 percent plan on leaving their jobs in the next few years. So for this notion of building a mentoring culture… it’s not a ‘nice-to-have’ in corporate America, it’s a ‘have-to-have’,” she said.

“Wherever we see these big gaps, we need to better elevate a diverse, skilled workforce with mentorship and sponsorship,” said Kantor.

Plans for increasing sponsorship vary by company.

“We’ll come into an organization and assess where they are currently, in regards to their top priorities and what they have in place for mentoring… if the objective is millennial retention, having a mentoring program is critical,” said Kantor.

Twomentor also offers a host of training programs, including mentor training, sponsor training, both online and in person as “dynamic, really fun, flash-mentoring sessions,” she said.

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