Many social entrepreneurs have an excellent understanding of the social issue they aim to tackle, but do not have the necessary background in business management to allow their enterprise to reach its full potential. Having access to a corporate mentor to gain business guidance is invaluable.
For mentors, the opportunity to assist social entrepreneurs allows them to seamlessly connect their career with the community, providing breadth in their life experiences and satisfaction through making a real difference in the lives of others.
Mentors are trained through Social Ventures Australia’s Community Mentor Program. It involves a two-day workshop that integrates the most powerful practices of coaching, relationship building and emotional intelligence.
Case study – Mentor
Robert Pekin, Founder FoodConnect and James Lye, Director, PwC Brisbane, have recently been inducted into the Hub mentoring program as part of the Brisbane Social Enterprise Hub 2007 Accelerator program. As part of the induction, Robert and James had to experience "A Day in the Life" - go to each other’s work environments to get a real sense of the challenges and achievements each experience in their daily working life. Robert attended a client meeting and joined in at PwC's monthly Performance Improvement group meeting, and had the opportunity to meet and discuss the FoodConnect philosophy. James on the other hand, had a very early start to the day at FoodConnect and got his hands dirty while dodging trolleys laden with food on their journey direct from farmer to consumer. Both experiences were captured on video representing a great window into the work of these two very different lives.
A true mentoring relationship is based on two-way learning, both parties benefiting and learning from the experience, exactly what is happening for this example in the Hub. James and Robert will now continue to work together to grow FoodConnect as a successful social enterprise, borrowing and sharing skills that each brings to the relationship. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a mentor or providing people in your company with the opportunity to be mentors, contact us.
