Leading Change - Be a Mentor
Would you like to play a role in supporting the next generation of global young leaders?
If so, complete the form at the bottom of this page or register your interest here.
The Institute of Continuing Education at the University of Cambridge is currently recruiting for the 2015 mentor panel starting in May 2015 - call closes April 30th.
The ICE are looking for mentors from around the Commonwealth to volunteer their time and energy to help develop projects in areas such as education, health, and equality. You will support award-winning leaders from across the Commonwealth to develop their social, environmental or cultural projects.
In 2014, a call went out around the Commonwealth to nominate the leaders of the future – young people aged 18-29 who are building projects to tackle problems with education, housing, medicine, employment and more.
This year the first cohort of 60 Queen’s Young Leaders were announced. They will be travelling to the UK in June to receive their awards from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. A major component of the award is participation in an exclusive online course from the University of Cambridge – Leading Change – and personal mentoring to help them develop their project.
The mentoring needs of the Young Leaders will vary enormously. So the ICE is planning to match mentors and mentees carefully based on these needs, which may include:
- influencing policy
- international development
- organisational strategy
- business skills
- access to funders and networks
- pastoral support
- management expertise
- communications and media
- networking
- developing ideas.
The ICE like to hear from you, if you are interested in becoming a mentor to this exciting and inspirational group of young people.
The ICE is looking both for personal and non-assigned mentors. Personal mentors will be matched on a 1:1 basis to a mentee. This is a commitment of approximately 30 hours over six months. Non-assigned mentors should be willing to offer expertise and advice on an as-needed basis – a commitment of up to eight hours over six months.
Mentors and mentees will be matched according to the mentor's ability to guide the mentee in areas pre-identified as being necessary to move forward with their work. Mentoring will take place between May and October each year.
If you would like to support the programme but cannot commit to a full mentoring role you may like to be involved in an advisory capacity. You will be called upon when your expertise is relevant to advise on specific issues as they arise. An advisory mentor role requires a minimum expected commitment of up to eight hours over the six-month period.
Benefits of mentoring
- Supporting award-winning young leaders from across the Commonwealth.
- Connection to a unique network of Commonwealth-based mentors with expertise in enterprise, investment, education, development and law to name a few.
- Training via a free place on one of the University of Cambridge’s online coaching courses.
- Engagement with the University of Cambridge, and the Queen’s Young Leaders Programme Partners – the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society.
Your commitment
Where the mentor has the required skills and experience to be matched with an award winner as their personal mentor, the partnership will last six months (May to October 2015). Mentors who are not matched in 2015 will remain part of the Queen’s Young Leaders Programme Mentor Pool. They will act as non-assigned advisors if the need arises for one-off consultations and will be considered for a possible match to a young leader in the following cohorts (2016-2018).
Successful applications to the Queen’s Young Leaders Programme Mentor Pool will be based on:
- commitment to the Commonwealth’s values of equality, diversity, sustainability, democracy, community, universalism
- ability to attend (remotely or in person) mentor orientation and complete an end-of-programme review
- agreement to commit to a minimum expectation of 30 hours contact with the mentee over the six-month period as a personal mentor or up to eight hours consultation over the six-month period as a non-assigned mentor
- regular reporting to the University of Cambridge following interaction with your mentee (while respecting confidentiality)
- significant relevant experience and commitment to the programme to ensure a valuable and rewarding relationship between you and your mentee.
Reward and recognition
Being a mentor is an unpaid, voluntary role that will contribute significantly to the aims of the Commonwealth. Personal mentors will be offered training (at no charge) on specified University of Cambridge’s online coaching courses.
All mentors who are matched with a mentee will receive a letter of recognition from the Queen’s Young Leaders partners – the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society – and the University of Cambridge.
How to apply
Simply complete the form below or follow this register your interest here. You will need to provide a CV in Word, RTF, Pages or PDF format.
If you have any questions or problems using the form, please contact Frances Brown by emailing frances.brown@ice.cam.ac.uk.