So you want to build a mentor program, one part of many on how you can create impact and involve yourself in the development of others. Mentors are such an essential group that focuses on foundational ideas and spaces that will help the student define their passion, work and behaviors in the future.
Throughout this toolkit, you will be guided with different section and questions that will guide you to have a rough structure of your mentorship program at the end of it. This document is meant to guide you through discussions or brainstorming that you could have with your team or organization to ensure you are building
| Steps | Topic | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Defining the program | Why does this program exist? |
| Who are the people being impacted? | ||
| What is an expected outcome of the program? | ||
| 2 | Defining the people | Who are the mentees? |
| Who are the mentors? | ||
| What are the mentees gaining from these interactions/experiences? | ||
| 3 | Mapping the details | What does the relationship between both mentor and mentee look like? |
| How often are they interacting? | ||
| What are they talking about? | ||
| 4 | Finding the people | Where are theses people coming in from? |
| What companies, schools, organizations, spaces where you are recruiting from? | ||
| What kind of expertise or need base for participants? | ||
| 5 | Outreach | How to reach out to mentors and mentees? |
| Email templating | ||
| Designs | ||
| Phrasing and descriptions | ||
| 6 | Grouping the people | How should you go about pairing and assessing groups |
| 7 | Maintaining the conversation | What does activities look like? |
| How does a good mentor/mentee relationship look like? | ||
| How can you measure success? | ||
When thinking about building a mentor program there are some essential topics and ideas to start thinking about. This is where you will lay the foundation of what your mentor program and answering these upcoming questions are vital.
<aside> ☝️ 💡 TOP TIP: Knowing the communities is vital to this defining area because it will determine whether you see success in the program. Being able to connect with the communities involved in the mentor program will guide you along and help you make long-term decisions. 💡
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This question may seem straightforward, but answering this question will give better context to setting up the program in the long term. Building a program comes from noticing either a need or some type of missing component within the industry, organization or community you are participating in. There are some sub questions where you can begin to answer this larger questions more clearly.
What is the group being impacted by this mentor program?
Who is the group in this mentor program? Is it a group that is close to your community or organizational space?
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Why does this group need this mentor program?
Note that this does not always have to framed as a problem, it could be that something is missing or there is a space where this mentor program can supplement other existing efforts.
What would this mentorship provide for this group?