Supporting the next generation of creatives
Meet a Mentor is a four-month mentoring programme for 18-26 year olds from underrepresented groups who are breaking into roles in the creative industries.
Our methodology is simple, we carefully pair up young creatives with a mentor who works in their chosen sector over a four month period.
The role of the mentor is to support, champion, encourage and occasionally challenge their mentee whilst creating opportunities for them to move into jobs in a fast-changing, competitive and highly networked workplace.
We have found that by encouraging the building of relationships between our mentees and mentors, they develop bonds that stretch beyond the programme, creating new networks and renewed confidence to proceed in a world that all too often is about who you know rather than what you know or how well you do it.
Figures
Since its inception, Meet a Mentor has had:
83
Mentor and mentee pairings
48
Jobs and work placements secured through connections made during Meet a Mentor
16
Venues around London have played host to Meet a Mentor
71
mentees from a BAME background
". . . a really nice atmosphere throughout - informal but focused . . . I think the whole initiative provides a really good example of how to tackle the kind of [inequality] issues we have uncovered in terms of those from working-class backgrounds failing to progress as quickly in the professions. In particular, mentors seem key agents in demystifying the process of career progression, giving practical steps on how to navigate from A to B to . . . arming early-career professionals with the kind of tacit knowledge about how to get ahead."
- Dr Sam Friedman, Associate Professor in Sociology at LSE