Mentoring is key to innovation and continues to depend on personal relationships, support systems, national and international collaboration, and commitment.The short review includes interviews with some of the major players involved in mentoring programs today. Tertiary tools are introduced to organize some of the many mentoring resources and expanding database of literature. The challenges and obstacles to successful mentoring include funding, attracting mentees, acquiring and retaining mentors, developing systems to follow the mentee, and time. Several innovative, sustainable programs related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are introduced as examples. The literature also refers to STEMM,
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine).