By Samantha Georgson
“It should be our goal as successful professionals to really pave the way for the next generation,” says Alison Helland, an attorney at Boardman & Clark whose practice focuses mainly on business matters. “You can only do so much on your own, and sometimes it really helps to have somebody facilitate your involvement at that next level.”
In 2019, Helland is looking to pay it forward through her work with the MarketReady Program, a local initiative focused on supporting entrepreneurs who have faced historic barriers to entry that are interested in becoming vendors at the Madison Public Market.
In this role, Helland serves as a mentor to both female and Spanish-speaking business owners, working to provide the resources and support they need in order to be successful. “This is often their first go at starting a business,” she says. “They need to be able to sit down with different professionals, to ask questions and have somebody to bounce their ideas off of.”
Additionally, Helland’s goal is to build relationships with some of the younger attorneys and law students this year. “Mentoring can take a lot of different forms,” Helland says. “We all have busy lives and our own responsibilities, but I think mentoring can be as simple as inviting somebody to a meeting that they’re not on the list for—really getting people connected.”
