- The workplace is becoming the scene of cut-throat competition where every ambitious youth who needs to grow needs mentoring and role models to hold their hand in the increasingly complex professional maze that demands that they meet targets, acquire certain skills and confidence.
- Higher up, organizations like MENTOR have turned this into an international business where they partner corporate bodies to design and implement a career readiness program for the purpose of mentoring young people channel their ambitions, expand their professional networks, and articulate and investigate solutions for societal problems.
by Nadia Muthoni
Mentorship is one thing that amplifies potential among the youth and among every working individual. It’s a tool that has importantly helped in retaining and amplifying new talent among the youth. The youth use that platform to connect with people who have specific skills and knowledge and those that need or want the same skill to move up in work, skill level, and performance.
With the labor economy changing, younger people are joining the workforce hence the need for mentorship. In effect to this, MENTOR partnered with JPMorgan Chase and four nonprofit organizations to design and implement a career readiness program to help young people channel their ambitions, expand their professional networks, and articulate and investigate solutions for challenges they identified within their communities.
This continued partnership advanced their shared mission to help young people and mentors tap into a growth mindset where they learn, work, and play. “Our team is committed to mentoring youth and adults for an evolving workforce,” said Marlee Henderson, Global Philanthropy Senior Associate at JPMorgan Chase. “We were already doing this work in partnership with MENTOR for young men of color. We wanted to focus on providing the same type of meaningful development and mentorship and engage more of our colleagues and reach even more young people.”
“It’s important for youth to dissect their lived experiences and know they have the solutions within themselves. Hopefully, that will inspire them to be community-minded and take charge in their communities and careers”, she went ahead to say. This gives excitement for the next phase of this program, which includes expanding into new cities, and what it could mean for the mentoring field and the young people looking for ways to engage in the education and labor economy but are unclear where to start.
