Jennifer Benner has played a pivotal role in launching budding entrepreneurs into successful ventures.
For the past ten years, she has been a mentor in the Airdrie SMARTstart program, an entrepreneurial training program offering tools, mentorship and business planning.
“I was hoping to provide the benefit of my experiences to the entrepreneurs enrolled in the program,” says Benner.
“My mentorship philosophy is to actively listen and be strategic in decision-making. Usually, if you let your mentees talk it out, they will come to their own conclusion or answer their own questions. Otherwise, I try to help them explore their options from beginning to end to see if their strategy will play out.”
Benner worked at IBM for several years as a data librarian, then at ATB as an electronic funds transfer specialist before starting her own business designing databases.
Nominator Joan Traub says Benner is an amazing mentor to new business owners in Airdrie.
A couple of months ago, I had the chance to work alongside Jennifer and watch how she interacted with Airdrie entrepreneurs,” says Traub.
“Not only does she have a wealth of knowledge to share, but she is kind and compassionate.”