The WIB-Greater Boston Mentorship, Advisors, Peers, and Sponsorship (MAPS) group mentoring program is for members only. Participants cover a range of careers and levels of experience. The MAPS program aims to cultivate mentoring relationships, create supportive networks, and offer opportunities to develop and improve professional leadership skills so that members can reach their fullest professional potential. 

Our current programs include:

Mentoring Circles

Mentoring Circles bring together small groups. Typically, two to three mentors and three to four mentees are placed in groups (otherwise called circles) based on shared areas of interest for growth and development. Groups are a mix of seniority, roles, and types of life science companies. With the mentors taking the lead, meetings are self-directed, with the group deciding when, where, and how often to meet. Some groups may decide to meet over breakfast or lunch. Others may meet in the evenings or for dinner or wine tastings, while others are virtual. Every MAPS Mentoring Circle develops to reflect its members’ personalities, interests, goals, and schedules. Members of each circle meet monthly for six months. Our program runs May through November each year and provides mentorship in small group settings. We highly encourage those who have previously participated as mentees to give back and consider being mentors for the program in future sessions.

March: Registration opens for mentors and mentees. The registration period is approximately one month. Once registration closes, mentees can no longer join a Mentoring Circle until the next cycle.

April: Mentoring Circles formed with 1–2 mentors and 3–4 mentees per group.

May: Kick-off meetings are held.

June – October: Circles meet monthly for at least six months.

November – December: Program closeout

Stay tuned to our chapter newsletters and webpage for information on the next enrollment period, or contact bostonmaps@womeninbio.org for more information.



Pitch Competitions 

During the annual WIB-Greater Boston Lobster Pot, our premier pitch competition in the spring, women-founded and women-led start-ups from across the area showcase their innovative businesses while gaining invaluable feedback from our panel of industry-leading judges. Pitch competitions allow entrepreneurs to present their new ideas and products by delivering their best fundraising pitch to investors and an audience. Investors provide feedback on the pitch and comment on the ideas presented, while the audience has an opportunity to rate each pitch.