Support the next generation.

What sponsorship funds.

Your dollars go to the parts of the year mentors, mentees, and the wider AREAA community actually remember:

• The annual mentor recognition dinner at AREAA National Convention — the in-person moment where we thank that year's mentors out loud and the cohort celebrates capstone graduation.
• Mentor recognition pins — a collectible record for every mentor in a given year. The pin says "you mentored this year," not "you outrank anyone." They stack year over year as a quiet, visible mark of service.
• The committee's operating runway — workshop logistics, application processing, capstone production, and the small in-person moments that make the year feel intentional, not transactional.

The anchor-sponsor tier.

Larger sponsorship conversations.

If your support goes beyond the anchor range — underwriting an extra workshop, a chapter-level EDGE launch, scholarships, a longer-horizon partnership — we'd rather talk than publish a fixed ladder. Every meaningful sponsorship we've taken on came out of a conversation, not a price list.

How sponsor input works.

Sponsors are partners. We welcome your input on how the program runs, and we read it carefully. The EDGE chair makes the final calls on cohort selection, mentor recruitment, and program structure — that boundary is what protects the program's quality, and your investment in it.

From sponsor to mentor.

Some of our most engaged mentors started out as sponsors. Building the relationship from the sponsor side first, then stepping into a mentor seat once the fit's clear, is a natural arc for the program. It's not required — but we leave that door open on purpose.

---