Following the success of the 2019 ASSP Central Florida ChapterWISE speed mentoring event, our Central Florida Chapter Emerging Professionals members held a reverse speed mentoring event in which emerging professionals had the opportunity to mentor longtime safety professionals. These mentoring pairs discussed topics such as technology, social media, current trends, sustainability, health and wellness. The emerging professional mentors included OSH professionals, information technology leaders, project managers and executive directors.

The mentors and mentees met for up to 10 minutes on each topic, then rotated until all participants had an opportunity to engage with each other. The meeting concluded with a live-action word cloud in which participants texted a word describing the event. The goal of the meeting was to help safety professionals better leverage emerging professionals in their workforce to drive safety and innovation while not alienating veteran professionals.

The developmental team for this event included Matt Law (field safety specialist for Grainger), Emily Schoonover (safety professional at Walt Disney World), Hannah Heise (safety professional at Walt Disney World) and Gabriella Pace (safety professional at Walt Disney World).

Clockwise from top left: Matt Law, field safety specialist at Grainger; Keegan O'Brien, project engineer at MSE Group; Kyle Lapic, environmental health and safety manager at MSE Group; Amy Brown, development manager at American Lung Association; Michelle Glasgow, safety professional at Walt Disney World. Not pictured: Greg Clayton, technology and product development team lead at Walt Disney World.