Cohort
Session Details
Wednesday 8th July 2020
We launched programme eight via Zoom, bringing 15 mentors and mentees from London together with 15 mentors and mentees from Cardiff. The session used randomly assigned breakout rooms in a twist on traditional networking and ice-breaking. After a section of the evening dedicated to mentors and mentees getting to know each other, setting goals and intentions for the programme, the session ended with a dynamic talk and q&a with Stephen S. Thompson, who wrote the powerful and unflinchingly honest, Sitting in Limbo.
Wednesday 5th August 2020
On a warm August evening, our mentors and mentees came together for the second session of the programme. We kicked off the Zoom session with a team-building exercise, asking randomly assigned groups to recreate famous album art. It was a task that challenged mentors and mentees to work creatively, quickly and utilise newfound digital-first skills as they assigned themselves roles as directors, models, editors and artists. This fed into their one-to-one catchups as they discussed transitioning back into creating and working. The session ended with a rousing and inspirational talk from director of photography Deepa Keshvala whose unconventional career journey was refreshing.
Wednesday 9th September 2020
Session three brought our mentor and mentee pairings together for a creative and invigorating session. The cohort were divided into smaller groups to discuss places and spaces for creative inspiration and stimulation, gifting each other with new areas and ways to access creativity and think about open spaces. The cohort then broke up into their pairings before coming back together as a group to catch up on any career developments and progress.The evening ended with a talk by Clementine Schneidermann on her brilliant photography collection, 'It's Called Ffasiwn.'
Wednesday 7th October 2020
The theme of the last session of programme 8 to 'give a gift'. We tasked the mentors and mentees to gift their counterpart with the knowledge of how they have helped each other. After a final catchup and revisiting of goals, mentors and mentees came together to discuss what they'd learnt and what they wanted to gift each other and reflect on the programme, including learnings and successes. One of our mentees Vanessa performed a rousing and emotional written piece that she had written during the programme with her mentor. The final session ended with a talk from former Meet a Mentor mentee and filmmaker and researcher, Cass Kyeyune.
