CPCA Mentoring Program
Build Connections. Share Experience. Grow as a Leader.
The CPCA Mentoring Program connects members across California to build meaningful professional relationships, exchange experience, and support one another throughout their leadership journeys.
Whether you are looking for guidance from someone who has navigated similar challenges, hoping to give back by supporting another leader, or interested in doing both, the program gives you the tools to build a mentoring relationship that works for you.
Program enrollment will open soon — join the interest list to get priority notification when it's time to sign up.
Launching Early November 2026
How the Program Works
Create Your Profile
After the program launches, CPCA members can join the Mentoring Program through Mentorloop and create a profile as a mentor, mentee, or both.
Your profile helps other participants learn more about your experience, interests, background, and what you are looking for in a mentoring relationship.
Complete Orientation
After creating your profile, you will have 30 days to complete a required orientation in CPCA Learn.
Separate orientations are available for mentors and mentees and are designed to help participants understand the program, their role, expectations, confidentiality, and how to build a productive mentoring relationship.
Find Your Match
Once you have completed the required steps, you can begin exploring potential matches.
CPCA does not assign mentoring pairs. Participants have the opportunity to review profiles and choose who they would like to connect with based on shared interests, experience, goals, or other factors that are important to them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
The Mentoring Program is available to all CPCA members interested in professional growth, leadership development, and building connections within the policing profession.
Participants may join as a mentor, mentee, or both.
Nope! The mentoring program is completely free for all CPCA members.
No. Mentoring is about sharing relevant experience and perspective, not simply holding a particular title.
Anyone with command and leadership experience can bring tremendous value to another member's development, regardless of whether they currently serve as a Police Chief.
Yes. Retired members bring valuable experience and perspective to the program and may participate as either mentors or mentees.
Yes. Leadership development does not stop once you become a mentor. Participants may choose to both share their experience with others and seek mentorship in areas where they would benefit from another leader's perspective.
No. Participants select their own matches.
Mentorloop allows you to explore other participants and identify people whose experience, interests, or goals may be a good fit. This gives both participants greater ownership over the mentoring relationship.
Not necessarily.
After creating your profile, you will first need to complete the required orientation. Matching will begin once participants have completed the necessary program requirements and eligible mentors and mentees are available in the platform.
The program is designed to prioritize a thoughtful match rather than simply creating one as quickly as possible.
Yes. Orientation is required for both mentors and mentees before participating in a mentoring match.
The orientation is hosted in CPCA Learn and covers program expectations, roles and responsibilities, confidentiality, Mentorloop, and strategies for building a successful mentoring relationship.
Participants have 30 days after creating their profile to complete the required orientation.
CPCA recommends that mentors be available to meet at least once per month.
Beyond that, each mentoring pair can determine a schedule that works for them. Some may connect more frequently depending on their goals, while others may find that monthly conversations are the right fit.
We encourage participants to approach the program with the goal of building a mentoring relationship over approximately one year.
However, mentoring relationships are voluntary. A mentor or mentee may decide to conclude a match if their needs change or the relationship is no longer the right fit.
That will depend on the goals of the relationship. Conversations might include topics such as:
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Leadership development
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Career progression
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Navigating command-level responsibilities
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Organizational challenges
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Building professional relationships
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Preparing for future leadership opportunities
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Work-life integration and sustainable leadership
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Lessons learned throughout a policing career
The mentor's role is not to supervise or provide all the answers. The strongest mentoring relationships create space for thoughtful conversation, perspective, reflection, and growth.
Participants are expected to respect the privacy and confidentiality of their mentoring conversations.
There are limits to confidentiality, particularly when information involves illegal activity or an immediate threat to the safety of an individual or others. Participants should also avoid sharing agency information or other material they are not authorized to disclose.
The program orientation provides additional guidance on confidentiality and appropriate boundaries.
Not every mentoring connection will be the right fit, and that is okay.
Mentors and mentees are encouraged to communicate openly about expectations and concerns. Either participant may end a match if needed and explore another connection through the program.
CPCA staff are also available to help participants navigate program questions or concerns.
Mentorloop is the online platform CPCA uses to support the Mentoring Program.
Participants use Mentorloop to create their mentoring profiles, discover potential matches, manage their mentoring relationships, complete check-ins, and access program resources.
CPCA Learn is CPCA's online learning platform.
The required Mentor and Mentee Orientations are housed in CPCA Learn, along with additional professional development and program resources.
