Meet a Mentor

We pair talented young creatives with industry professionals who work closely with their allocated mentee to help them get that bit further down the road in their chosen career path.

Since its inception in April 2016, we have worked with over 100 inspiring and passionate mentors and mentees from across the creative industries from content production, photography, fashion and marketing, film, PR, television, digital and product design, to event production, architecture and journalism.

We have had some great outcomes from these pairings which include jobs and internships at Somethin' Else, Kings College London, PTE Architects, BBC Radio 6 Music, Little, Brown Book Group, VCCP, Cherry London, British Summer Time Festival and Siobhan Davies Dance, to name a few.

The Meet a Mentor format

The programme takes place over four months. Through a structured series of workshops and meetings, mentors offer mentees support, encouragement and advice on how to get that bit closer to employment in their chosen field in the creative and digital industries. Mentees offer mentors a chance to engage with a younger generation of creatives, impart valuable wisdom and learnings and holistically understand what the new generations bring and the challenges they face when entering the creative industries.

Each evening's structured sessions comprise time for the mentor and mentee to spend together working on the mentee's goals, a group task led by a creative professional (e.g. creative problem solving, pitching & presenting techniques, digital skills training) that all take part in, and end with a short TED-type talk from an inspirational speaker.

For more information go to www.meetamentor.co

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"I'm very glad to be able to help a younger generation try to climb that ladder, particularly now that I've got such a firm foothold and I'm in a bit more of a position to advise & support. It's a nice feeling to be able to use your experience and contacts to help good people."

(Kate Wood - Mentor, programme 4)

"This is very special/ important work. I'm so glad you asked me to be part of this"

(Shanida Scotland, BBC Storyville - Mentor, programme 2)

"One of the best things about Meet a Mentor is the honesty with which people can talk about their career journeys and conundrums. Instead of high-gloss stories we can talk about the realities of building a creative career, and some of the barriers to success"

(Charlie Duffield - Mentee, programme 3)

"Not only was the match pretty much perfect in terms of career goals but mine and my mentor's relationship has really blossomed professionally and personally - it's been great to know that she will always be honest and constructive. Touching base once a month motivated me to be proactive and genuinely have some sort of progress to feedback to my mentor/ wider team"

(Antonia Odunlami - Mentee, programme 2)

"I feel like I've managed to get a lot of confidence through this programme purely because we are being invited into spaces that usually feel so unattainable. Places that usually can be quite alienating no longer feel so. Just having the privilege to be in spaces you'd never imagine yourself to be really allows room to start believing that other things are possible."

(Shamica Ruddock - Mentee, programme 4)

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Some of the incredible mentors we've worked with over the four programmes:

• Amy Jones - Video Producer, The Pool (Programme 3)
• Caroline Taylor - Founder, Silver Space Pillows (Programmes 2 & 3)
  
• Dan Gaba - Picture Editor, Wall Street Journal (Programme 3)
• Elizabeth Vince – Industry Manager, Google (Programme 4)
• Gayani Wanigaratne – Commissioning Exec, ITV (Programme 4)
• Kate Barrett - Head of Photography, Wallpaper* (Programme 2)
  
• Kate Brindley - Global PR and Communications Director, Nicholas Kirkwood (Programme 3)
• Louisa Tapper - Managing Partner, SNAP London (Programmes 1 & 2)
• Lucy Wood – Talent Buyer, Festival Republic (Programme 4)
• Ramy El Bergamy – On screen Diversity Exec, Channel 4 (Programme 4)
• Shanida Scotland - Development Editor, BBC Storyville (Programme 2)
• Tom Young - Managing Partner, Somethin' Else (Programme 1)

To read blogs from mentors and mentees, click here.

We will be launching the fifth round of the programme in late February/early March 2019, sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date.