Ten seats (we'll add one for the right person). Past AREAA presidents, senior chapter leaders, industry executives. Nine months in (December onboarding → September capstone), about six of those are active 1:1 mentorship. We fill seats through renewal first, then by recruiting at National Convention — not through open application.
EDGE mentors usually come from one of three places:
The mentor group is the most carefully held thing in the program. Mentors aren't interchangeable; the year takes shape from who's in it.
Ten mentor seats. The number that protects mentor attention, pairing depth, and the quality bar at every interview.
Returning mentors first. If you mentored last year, the seat's yours if you want it.
Open seats filled by application and interview.
Ten is the default. Some years we'll stretch to eleven or twelve, but only when three things line up at once:
We re-run the math every year. Some years we hold at ten. Other years we stretch by one or two when all three line up. The bar to add a seat is high on purpose.
Separately, the chair or vice chair may take on a mentee directly — that pairing doesn't count against the math.
If you mentored last year, you get first option. Renewal is the default — the chair confirms continuation in the months after National Convention.
The chair and Vice Chair personally invite next year's mentors at National Convention, usually over the anchor-sponsor mentor dinner. This is the biggest single thing the chair does all year.
Sponsors who get close to the program sometimes step into mentor seats. It's a natural arc when the fit is right.
If you think you should be in the next mentor group, the way in is to let the chair, the VC, or a current EDGE mentor know at an AREAA event. Existing mentors plus the chair and VC vote on new mentors.
You set the cadence — it's mentor-driven and depends on the pair. Most pairs land at roughly monthly, sometimes more during workshop season (May–August). November through February is the quieter stretch. A Relationship Counselor from the committee handles monthly check-ins so you're not coordinating alone.
We don't hold you to an hours-per-month number. We ask you to be present for your mentee when it matters, show up at the kickoff (early April), join at least one workshop you care about, and come to capstone presentations in late September. That's it. That's the real ask.
The NC week in October is the most important week of the year for mentors — graduation, the teambuilding event, the anchor-sponsor dinner, and recruiting the next year's group. Mentor presence at NC matters.
We invite (but don't require) mentors to lead or co-lead workshops in their wheelhouse — Negotiation, Public Speaking, Capital Markets, AI tooling, Leadership and Succession. Teaching deepens the connection to the program.
After mentee interviews wrap in March, mentors watch the videos and submit a ranked top-5. When two mentors want the same mentee, we break the tie on capacity, who confirmed first, and chapter diversity.
Mentors choose. The chair just runs the process.
The pairing reveal — usually early April — is a live event, not a back-office email. You meet your mentees in the same room, in front of the group.
Every mentor in the active year gets:
Mentor seats aren't open application. The way in is a conversation — at an AREAA event, or by email.