MENTOR’s Inaugural Fireside Chat Highlights the Importance of Early Career Mentors and Career Pipeline Programs

BOSTON, September 30, 2024 (Newswire.com) - MENTOR, the leading nonprofit working to close the mentoring gap for the 1 in 3 young people without a mentor, in partnership with MENTOR Affiliate Mass Mentoring Partnership, held the inaugural fireside at Bain Capital headquarters on Sept. 12, kicking off a new leadership series which brings together corporate partners, community voices, young people, and political stakeholders. 

The panel highlighted the need to begin early nurturing of and exposing youth to the workforce in K-12, rather than wait or delay the process of preparing them for their careers until high school or college. 

MENTOR is proud to partner with companies that are spearheading these efforts, like Fidelity Investments with their Investments Invest in My Education (ME) initiative that provides access to education and ongoing support to students from underrepresented populations and historically underserved communities who have faced systemic barriers and challenges to economic mobility; as well as Bank of America’s Academy and Student Leaders® and Unlock Potential programs to help young people develop their job skills and grow in their careers.

“Mentoring is something that our company has done for a long time as a professional development strategy. In 2018 we made a commitment as a company to hire 10,000 individuals from low to moderate-income communities. That made us think differently: where do we find great talent, and how do we support that talent? We didn’t want to just plop them into jobs, and we didn’t want to have them leave. We wanted them to thrive and to grow and develop, and to stay at the company for a long time. So, we need them to feel like they belong. And they do belong,” said Senior Vice President, Workforce Development External Partner Engagement at Bank of America Abigail Goward Hollingsworth.

MENTOR, along with UNCF, has helped to provide support to the Fidelity Scholars Program. The partnership exemplifies ways that MENTOR and its Affiliates join with corporate partners to provide technical and consulting support, helping to create mentoring programs impacting the lives of all students. The conversation centered on how mentoring, human connection and relationships are central to bringing in and retaining a diverse talent pool and pipeline.

Mass Mentoring Partnership’s CEO, Dr. Cynthia K. Orellana provided an introduction to the fireside, highlighting the importance of continued partnership between MENTOR, its Affiliates, and leadership across the Commonwealth. “Together, with you, we can serve as thought partners to ensure we are building the social capital and webs of support our youth need to successfully navigate their future pathways,” stated Dr. Orellana. “I often say that mentoring is a critical and insufficiently exploited resource and tool towards addressing many of the social challenges we are facing in the 21st century. We must remember: Mentoring can play a crucial role in helping young people explore their interests, build professional skills, and establish valuable networks.”

State Representative Chynah Tyler praised the Commonwealth’s blossoming biotech industry; newer to the state and now booming, this industry has offered career opportunities to Massachusetts students which were not previously available. Rep. Tyler is a local champion for the mentoring movement, and has attended the Youth Mentoring Day, hosted by Mass Mentoring Partnership, at the Massachusetts State House.

MENTOR CEO Jermaine Myrie said, “We believe that social capital is not just a business priority that recruits talent to the front door, but gets talent up the ladder. Up the ladder to make a difference, so that they can continue to profoundly change time, change experiences, change realities on the ground.”

As various industries have touch points with communities of young people, Fidelity Investments Head of Social Impact Nageeb Sumar shared how mentorship has helped to upskill employees to better engage with and support historically underserved students directly. 

“It’s humbling to think of the scale and impact of MENTOR and their Affiliates and yet, there is still so much work that needs to be done to reach the more than one in three young people who are growing up without the support of a mentor,” said Bain Capital Head of Communications and Public Affairs Ernesto Anguilla.

The next installment in the fireside chat series will focus on the impact of mental health, loneliness, and isolation on young people and mentors, as well as the need for informal group mentorship in the youth sports space.

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About Mass Mentoring Partnership: For 32 years, Mass Mentoring Partnership (MMP) has been the only state-wide training, research, and advocacy organization for Massachusetts mentoring and youth-serving organizations. MMP is committed to ensuring that all young people in Massachusetts have the mentoring relationships they need to develop into thriving, engaged adults, resulting in vibrant communities. MMP builds the capacity of mentoring programs through training, technical assistance, and site-based consultation. In 2023, MMP facilitated 70 site-specific and general training/networking events delivering support to over 43,000 youth statewide.

About MENTOR: MENTOR is the unifying champion for expanding the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships across the United States. For nearly 35 years, MENTOR has expanded opportunities for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement. The result: a more than 10-fold increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships. Today, MENTOR is the primary resource and expert for the youth mentoring field, representing a movement that meets young people everywhere they are–from schools, to workplaces, and beyond. MENTOR operates in collaboration with 25 local Affiliates across the country. 

To learn more about MENTOR, visit our website: www.mentoring.org or find us on social media. Follow on X at @mentornational | Facebook: MENTORnational | Instagram: @mentornmp | LinkedIn: MENTOR

Source: MENTOR