Garri Rivkin Co-founder, Executive Director, The City Tutors
In the short one and a half years that Elaine has worked with my organization The City Tutors, she has become an invaluable addition to our mentorship program. An inspiring mentor, Elaine has helped 5 young women who volunteer with us feel more confident as professionals, and better positioned to take their next professional steps. Each of these women have praised working with Elaine, some have described her mentorship as “eye-opening, and uplifting”. Elaine is one of the few mentors where every mentee feels their time working with Elaine has been the most important part of their professional growth over the time they are connected with her. Anybody would be lucky to have Elaine as their mentor, but young women entering the workforce would particularly benefit from her advice/coaching. 

Testimonial – Kimaya Dear Elaine, Working with you over the past few months has been a pleasure and an eye-opener. It was a relief to speak with someone about issues that I was uncomfortable discussing without the fear of being judged.

It felt safe. 

Your energy is contagious and there were times I had “Woah” moments while listening to you draw from your experiences. To listen to you convert mere moments into opportunities is an inspiration and I am working on myself for that. I am going out of my comfort zone to introduce myself to people just to be on their radar. Like you said, among a 100 people you network with only 1 needs to work! 

I have also taken your advice to write down what I do each week so as to be ready at the end of the week to report that to my manager and my conversations lately have been to the point with a lot of “I’ve completed….”. It feels good to be taken seriously! Thanks a lot for devoting your time and experience to me!

Testimonial – Sonia     Upon meeting Elaine, it is easy to spot her genuine enthusiasm and dynamic personality. Elaine served as my mentor from February 2018 to May 2018, while I was part of City Tutors. She was the most present and involved mentor that I ever had.

The greatest takeaways that I learned from her were not from her words but her actions. We frequently spoke on video chat, and she was available to whenever I had a problem. During bouts of silence, she would reach out to me in order to reconnect. Through my mentorship with Elaine, I finally learned the power of personal communication and networking, which I have heard of many times before but I have never seen in action.

Throughout our sessions, we touched through a various topics, such as career selection, interviewing tips, resume and cover letter reviews. She helped me to narrow my career focus, form achievable goals, and refined my job searching skills. I looked forward to meeting with Elaine because she constructs the majority of advice through fun anecdotes and always provided clear reasoning for her critiques.

I am very grateful to have had Elaine as my mentor, and I highly recommend her services to others. Thank you.

Testimonial – Saianna     I met Elaine through The City Tutors Mentor Program. Initially, I set out to get her help with preparing for an interview, formatting a cover letter and revising my resume for an internship application but I ended up gaining so much more. Elaine helped to bolster my confidence not only in terms of applying for part-time jobs and internships but also in my abilities and skills as a student and person. She recognized my strengths that I didn’t even know I possessed and we worked together on the skills that I needed further improvement on. Through her personal narratives of her past experiences, I learnt to be myself unapologetically and to accept myself as a work in progress.

Testimonial – Yesenia    During the ten months of my job search, I was struggling to find my professional presence.  Frustrated, angry, stressed and simply dejected by the overall process. I was getting plenty of interviews, but for some reason, I never made it to the finish line.   There was even a moment where I questioned as to whether or not I have the skills to make it in my industry.  During my tenure at The City Tutors, I met Elaine Morris Palmer back on May 17. I became immediately impressed with her vast career knowledge and her dedication to help individuals succeed in their professions.

I knew that prior to that May meeting, I had to completely tear down and rebuild my strategy from scratch.  Thanks to Elaine Morris Palmer, I regained my confidence and capabilities to thrive in the job search.  Through coaching, Elaine was instrumental in tapping my potential and formulating a platform to showcase my talents.

We work extensively on revamping my core resume and template to produce a better impact.  Elaine and I specifically developed new interview strategies to compliment the positions I applied for.  We also have weekly in-depth video and phone conversation to ensure all goals were on track.   She also recommended courses, affiliations and tips that would help me strengthen my brand.  We even talk extensively about the roadblocks that prevented me from reaching my goals and how to resolve them.

The result was rapid momentum in responses and interviews. Thanks to her guidance, I was able to secure a full-time position at a nonprofit.  I was able to achieve more with Elaine in the last two months of my search than what I did on my own in eight months.  She has not only become my mentor, but she is my coach.   Highly reliable, strategic and dedicated to her craft in making sure I achieve the ultimate results.  Her insights and opinions are greatly valued.  My entire perception of career has changed through her teachings.  Elaine is a true ally and the sheer amount of time she puts on her behalf is amazing.  I am extremely grateful for her services and will continue to go to her for all of my professional needs.

Yesenia Reinoso

PR & Marketing Consultant & now Communications Manager of Global Kids.

Testimonial – Jennifer    Elaine is my mentor in The City Tutors. She was extremely helpful and gave me professional development advice, which helped me create a solid resume and cover letter. She also mentored me in regards to my career path post-graduation and I am pleased to say she has helped me become more decisive. She is helpful, charismatic, reliable and is a great leader. I’m glad that I am her mentee.