For Knickerbocker Group President Danielle Betts, mentoring and supporting other women has always been a top priority. As the leader of the Boothbay and Portland-based design-build firm, Betts strives to promote an inclusive work environment where all voices are valued and heard.

To help empower the next generation of female leaders, Betts has joined The Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute as one of its more than 200 Olympia Leaders Advisors (OLAs). Created in 2015 by former United States Senator Olympia Snowe, the program seeks to grow the confidence, aspirations, and leadership skills of High School girls across Maine through a thoughtfully designed three-year program. Selected to mentor students are a diverse group of female leaders from an array of backgrounds, including Betts and her co-mentor Vickie Seeger.

Paired with five students from Boothbay Region High School, Betts and Seeger facilitate monthly sessions focused on helping the girls better ascertain their values through quality curriculum, events, and meaningful connections. In addition to facilitating discussions, the two mentors also invited a valuable guest speaker, Deborah Bronk, president and CEO of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

“Values define who we are and what we believe in. The Olympia Leaders have an incredible opportunity to focus on their values and grow from this, so they can develop the skills in applying them before they even leave high school. As our first year comes to an end, Vickie and I can already see growth in their every day confidence and self-understanding. Being able to help foster the skills needed for girls to become comfortable in taking on leadership roles within their communities, families, and future careers is a privilege and one that I am thrilled to be a part of,” says Betts.

Over the next two years, Betts and Seeger will be paired with the same students to guide them in finding their voices (junior year) and vision (senior year), in an effort to help them acquire the skills needed to be leaders in all aspects of their life. Betts’s passion for the program is catching on throughout the company. Joining Betts as an OLA this upcoming fall will be Knickerbocker Group’s Human Resources Manager, Katherine Penley, who has been accepted into the program and will begin mentoring the incoming group of sophomore Olympia Leaders at Boothbay Region High School in the fall of 2023.