The Beginning
The idea for a carefully curated mentoring programme came to Fran, after years of industry programme co-design work, she realised one could only go so far in helping people with their next career steps through training and felt that in addition to industry exposure upcoming creatives might also benefit from having a champion in their corner not only to help at entry level but in fact at all stages of their careers. The idea was borne from wanting to support creatives in finding a non judgemental support person who could be a listening ear and guide as well as someone who could open doors.
This led to the start of Meet a Mentor and the inaugural session was held at Made by Many on 13th April 2016, supported by the RSA Catalyst Fund. It included a workshop led by production company Somethin’ Else, advising mentees on how to hone their CV and job application writing skills. The mentors had an introduction to the programme and to their mentoring role, before the mentors and mentees were paired up. The evening ended with a talk by Nihal Arthanayake - DJ, Broadcaster and Journalist, on his then 20 year journey, discussing his mentors along the way, obstacles he'd faced, top tips, the importance of diversity in the creative industries and changing cultures.
Meet a Mentor now partners with organisations and runs bespoke mentoring programmes, to help creatives further their careers in a nurturing, authentic and encouraging environment.
The Middle
Meet a Mentor now partners with organisations and runs bespoke mentoring programmes, to help creatives further their careers in a nurturing, authentic and encouraging environment.
Meet a Mentor has honed its offering and the mentoring commitment is just five evenings over six months. Evenings include a skills-oriented learning session , networking, one-to-one time for mentors and mentees and often end on an inspirational TED-type talk.
Timings are typically 6 - 8.30pm and sessions have been hosted at inspiring venues, offices and agencies all over London including: Google, V&A, The Photographer's Gallery, FCB Inferno, Somerset House, Airbnb, Karmarama & Fremantle UK to name a few.
The evenings are informal and designed to be dynamic, enjoyable, nourishing and encouraging. Mentors often feedback that there is a lot of reciprocity from this process and they learn a lot about themselves and their own practise as well as being able to help by giving back.
The Now
To date we have worked with over 260 pairs of mentors and mentees, helping mentees secure work at organisations such as:
Aardman, Adam&EveDDB, Atomize, Channel 4, Grey London, The BBC, ITV, Mindhouse Productions, Myrium, VCCP, Somethin' Else, Sony Music Entertainment, Prodigious, Red Bull Media, Hachette, British Summertime, Prodigious (Publicis), Naked TV (A Fremantle Label), Siobhan Davies Dance Company, Imperial College, Untold Studios, Stink Films, We Are Social, Kings College London, Uncommon Creative Studios, as well as going on to successful freelance roles in the creative sector from Art Direction, Writing, Directing (TV, Film, Music Vids, Branded Content, Long & Short Form), Production, Casting, Art and Photography to Music Editing, Podcasting, Curating, Content Creating.
Past mentors have come from organisations including:
Airbnb, BBC, Channel 4, D&AD, FCB Inferno, Google, The Face, Paul Smith, Persuasion PR, Pulse Films, Decoded, Dazed Media, Nicholas Kirkwood, Snap London, The Wall Street Journal, Century Films, Raw TV, Supa Academy, Silverspace Pillows, Selfridges, Somethin’ Else, Sony Music Entertainment, Wearedotdotdot, PTE Architects, Pulse Films, Red Bull Media, One Stop Films, Splice Post, Time INC, ustwo, Made by Many, Reading Room, Wired, Festival Republic, ITV, Working Eye, The Marketing Foundation,VCCP, Wallpaper* amongst others.
Meet a Mentor would not be possible without the goodwill, support and expertise not only from our amazing industry mentors but also from a range of individuals and organisations who have supported the development of the programme through funding, support and believing in it. With special thanks to A New Direction, Bianca Manu, Charlie Tims, Charlotte Hillenbrand, Jo Lacey, Oliver Benjamin, Lucy Carasco, Vivian Berryman.
Programmes
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Partners, Funders, Supporters
