More than 90 personnel from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and Navy Installations Command joined together Feb. 3 to participate in a speed-mentoring event at Washington Navy Yard.

This was the second event held in the past five months as part of Navy Installations Command's commitment to workforce development.

Navy Installations Command Deputy Commander Joseph Ludovici welcomed the mentors and proteges to the event as a way to build relationships on Navy Yard.

"We do this for the purpose of demonstrating to the workforce how much the leadership and mentors are invested in their future," said Ludovici.

He emphasized the importance of training opportunities, guest speakers, and mentoring as a way to develop our leaders of tomorrow. Additionally, he spoke about the chief of naval operations' design for maritime strategy by optimizing the Navy's intellectual enterprise, and added that having the mentoring will help guide the future leaders of the Navy.

The combined command event was sponsored by the Asian American Pacific Islander Employer Resource Group along with the African American Employee Resource Group, and was conducted by several workforce development team members from both Navy Installations Command and NAVSEA.

"This is the first mentoring event I have attended in the eight years I have been a federal employee and I am very excited," said Shalini Puri, program analyst for NAVFAC Expeditionary Program Office. "It was a great opportunity to come out and meet the accomplished leaders of our organization. They emphasized that good communication, always asking questions, time management and frequently getting out of your comfort zone are vital for one to be successful."

During the event 27 mentors and 64 proteges participated in two 10-minute mentoring sessions followed by a half-hour networking event. The mentors were a diverse group of senior executive service, senior military leaders, and senior general schedule civilians from the three commands and various N-codes.

The 10-minute mentoring session was an opportunity for the proteges to meet and talk about career paths, background, and anything else that might be helpful for them to apply to their career.

"We are very happy to be hosting our second mentoring event on Navy Yard," said Carrie Locklear, a member of Navy Installations Command's command advisory group. "The goal of the mentoring event is to develop the workforce and show them guidance, direction, and leadership."

Locklear also noted that the reason they coordinated the event with three echelon-two commands was that having more than one mentor gives an individual a broader perspective, while also observing how different skill sets, experiences and personality, may contribute to enhancing a career.

At the conclusion of the event attendees were thanked for their participation and exchanged contact information in order to stay connected with their new-found mentors. The next mentoring event on Navy Yard will be hosted by NAVFAC in the second quarter of 2016.

For more information about Navy Installations Command, visit www.cnic.navy.mil

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