our Community
We’ve worked with thousands of young people and professionals across the creative industries.
Find out more about the young people we support, our mentor community, and how you can become part of our network below.
We work with young people aged 16-25 from lower socioeconomic backgrounds interested in a creative career.
Industry knowledge and networks are two of the biggest challenges for young people trying to access the creative industries. Mentoring helps them to grow their understanding of the various roles available, build a network of professional contacts, expand portfolios and develop skills to succeed in the industry.
OUR MENTEES
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Although we’re called Creative Mentor Network, our programmes are designed to support young people into all types of roles, not just those that are explicitly ‘creative’. We believe there is creativity in most roles, and that there’s a role to suits everyone within the industry. While some young people may have a clear picture of the job they want, for others, mentoring may be an opportunity for discovery.
Because our mentees come from a wide age range, we work with young people all at different stages of their creative careers.
Some need help breaking into the industry, whilst others need help progressing in their career. The barriers they face don’t disappear once they find a job.
Previous mentors have helped mentees explore what jobs they would be interested in, working on CVs and applications, on personal projects like short films, or on getting promoted at their jobs. Each mentoring relationship is unique though and there’s a huge number of ways mentors support their mentees.
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We have a dedicated Outreach Manager who recruits young people specifically for our programmes, through online and in person outreach.
To reach the young people who have the most to gain from our programmes, we work with a wide range of schools, colleges, youth centres and universities across the UK to raise awareness about what we do and help students better understand how to realise their creative dreams.
All our mentees go through our application process where we assess their eligibility for the programme, and a short interview to help us understand more about them so we can make the best match with their mentor.
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We work with young people aged 16-25 (or up to 27 on our Soho Mentorship programme) from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Socioeconomic status is measured by assessing the following factors:
•The type of school they attended•Eligibility for Free School Meals
•Their primary household earner’s occupation at 14
OUR mentors
We work with companies in the creative industries to train their staff as mentors on our programmes. We work with companies from all over the creative industries, from all types of job roles. This means we can give our mentees access to discover a wide variety of paths within the industry.
All our mentors all receive training to give them the tools they need to mentor and coach inclusively and understand the specific barriers that impact socioeconomic diversity which their mentees can face.
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Our mentoring programmes are great for mid-to-senior level talent looking to develop and evolve their management, leadership and DE&I knowledge. You don’t already need to be a leader or manager or be in a creative role to mentor.
The variety of roles in our mentoring community is huge. We’ve worked with art directors, journalists, account managers, event organisers, producers, strategists and even lawyers.
The breadth of roles in the creative industry is huge, and our mentors reflect that.
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Before signing up for our programmes, many people want to know what makes a good mentor before making the commitment.
It’s important to understand that every mentor-mentee relationship is unique, and there isn’t one right way to be a mentor. Instead, there are a few elements that we recognise that help form successful mentor-mentee relationships.
1. Put your mentee and their needs first
2. Listen and empower your mentee
3. Share your networks
4. Teach, don’t tell
5. Act as a role model
All of our mentors receive training in inclusive leadership and mentoring & coaching to help them support their mentees throughout the programme. On top of this, mentors are educated on socioeconomic diversity and social and cultural capital to understand the specific barriers our mentees may face.
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Our mentoring programmes are structured to ensure there are positive outcomes for everyone.
Mentors work with their mentees through fortnightly meetings, either in-person or online.
They use coaching techniques to support their mentees with goals they will set at the beginning of the programme, help them expand their professional networks and help develop skills like presenting, email etiquette, time management, networking and more.
Our Programme Managers are also on hand at all times to support mentors and mentees throughout the programme.
OUR PARTNERS
Our partners come from an array of companies, from typical creative companies like advertising and marketing; fashion and textiles; music; film and tv, tech and digital; architecture and design; art and culture; journalism and broadcasting; and publishing to the creative departments in organisations outside of the industries above.
Below is just a small example of some of our partners. Click below to see more.
