Spark Mentoring Program

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners is people-centric. We exist because of our residents and our No. 1 resource and asset: Our employees. St. Lucie County Administrator Howard Tipton fully supports the internal training and mentoring programs, which were non-existent when he began working for the county five years ago. The county’s SPARK Mentoring Program has 100 percent buy-in and support across the board with management, strategically aligning with the county’s mission and vision, while continuing to meet the expectations of county leadership and the needs of our employees.SPARK Mentoring is a 10-month formal workplace mentoring program, dedicated to the professional development of emerging leaders within St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners. SPARK Mentoring provides a positive and safe learning environment, which ultimately creates a synergistic relationship between mentees and their cohorts from different departments within St. Lucie County, as well as with their respective mentors. SPARK Mentoring builds a cadre of diverse, yet well-rounded emerging leaders to be part of the talent pipeline for future succession. SPARK Mentoring promotes a learning, collaborative culture through mentoring, while also allowing our participants to take ownership in their development personally and professionally. SPARK Mentoring provides an opportunity for our internal emerging leaders to learn best practices and gain institutional knowledge from seasoned leaders, while honing their leadership skills and offering them practical knowledge and tools to apply to their current and future roles with St. Lucie County.