City Trees

Carolina Arango – Michelle Cole Carolina Arango (mentee) is an Arborist for the City of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; she is an MFI grad. Michelle Cole (mentor) is an Academic Administrator in the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment at Auburn University; she teaches on the MFI team. Carolina Arango says she joined the UCFS Mentoring Program to add an arboriculture perspective to her leader- ship journey (she is currently enrolled in the City of Surrey Emerging Leaders program). "I debated whether to join the UCFS program as a mentor or mentee," she says. "I decided to be a mentee first to explore how it all works, and hopefully next year I can volunteer as a mentor." Arango was paired with Michelle Cole, a three-time mentor in the UCFS Mentoring Program. Arango says, "We talked about being women in a male-dominated industry; it was very helpful to relate at such a high level." Cole says, "From the beginning, I could tell Carolina was looking for a place to be heard, both in our sessions and in our field at large." Arango's main goal for her participation in this program was to find ways, outside of her own workplace, to advance her leadership in the industry. Among Cole's suggestions for Arango were to get involved with UCFS at a planning level, to volunteer as a member of the teaching team for MFI, and to seek any oppor- tunity to attend or present at a conference. "First, I signed up for the feedback session for the new UCFS Strategic Plan," Arango says. "It was a very interesting experience and it felt good to give my opinion. From there, I was interviewed with regard to the brand refresh for the organization, and I was also asked to do a webinar for the UCFS Learning Series. I said 'Yes' to all—and that's how I now have done my first webinar ever!" (The topic was "Protecting and Enhancing Tree Canopy on Private Property.") In planning the webinar, Arango ran some of her ideas by Cole, who knows how helpful it can be to have that feedback from a trusted colleague. Cole assured Arango that everyone gets nervous before a presentation. "When I saw Carolina on Zoom after she did the webinar, her face was lit up and I could see and hear the boost in her confidence. I was so happy for her," Cole says. In turn, Cole says that Arango's successes helped moti- vate Cole to pursue some new goals of her own. Cole Arango says the best tip she would give to someone signing up as a mentee is to do it when you are ready to be open-minded. "The will to listen and try new things must be there for the relationship to work," she says. Carolina Arango 18 CityTREES

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