young women with mentors

At Catalyse Change we are excited to launch our new mentoring programme – in partnership with ERM a global sustainability consultancy – which will connect young women (16 – 24 years) with a mentor and professional female role model. To support her to be inspired and informed about sustainability and it’s career opportunities, supporting her own education and career pathway.

Who are we? Catalyse Change CIC is a Bristol-based social enterprise supporting girls and young women (GYW) aged 14- 24 years –  to develop sustainability skills and knowledge for ‘healthy, happy and green’ communities, careers and planet. Our Catalyst Programme provides them with the inspiration, confidence, and skills they need to be confident and resilient changemakers.  It is for GYW who are interested in a career in sustainability but aren’t yet sure how to achieve it.

What is Mentoring?  A mentor has become synonymous with a trusted friend, adviser, teacher, wise person; the Oxford Dictionary describing it as; “experienced and trusted adviser”. Mentoring has been established as a tool / process to help individuals reach their potential. However for most the process is informal and and is defined by the mentor assisting the mentee to discover something new about their potential and their self.

Mentoring programme objectives

  • Provide up-to-date information about sustainability sector and the career opportunities.
  • Connect young women (16-24 yrs) with a mentor and professional female role models.
  • Teach practical ‘softer’ skills for employability e.g. team working, clear communication.
  • Support young women to realise their ambitions and discover their self-worth.
  • Provide practical skills to increase their confidence and resilience.
  • Develop their capacity to shape their world and their future.

Objective  To inspire and empower girls and young women as confident, resilient changemakers by connecting them with a mentor and network of professional female role models.

Would you like to be a Mentor?  As a Mentor, you’ll be a professional working in sustainability who wants to make a difference to the life of a young women who wants to be a change-maker. To provide one-to-one support for 3-6 months to a young woman who is looking to pursue a green education and career, but not currently sure how to achieve it.

The role involves:

  • Regular meetings with a young woman
  • Provide her with support to move towards employment, education or training
  • Support her to identify goals and targets to work towards
  • Empowering her make her own decisions about their development
  • Signposting them to other organisations for support.

What is the impact?  You can help a young woman to understand the potential career opportunities and pathways to achieving them, to help her clarify and be accountable to her goals, to sharpen her CV or interviewing technique, build their confidence and support them into the next stage of their professional life.

What is the time commitment?  Ideally, a Mentor is expected to commit to around four hours per month for up to six months.  We are also running a mentor training event on 10th July in central Bristol which you would be required to attend.  There is also a ‘speed networking’ session followed by lunch with the mentees at our Catalyst Bootcamp on 2nd August, which you will also be able to ideally attend.

What support is there?  We will provide on-going support during the delivery of the mentoring programme. Rhian Sherrington, an experienced Executive Career Coach and founder of Women in Sustainability Network (WINS), will be running our initial training session and also providing email coaching support to mentors during the programme, along with a zoom video conference call to share new tools/ models/ insight as appropriate, plus provide mentors with the opportunity to share own insights and learning.

To register your interest and for an application form please contact Traci Lewis traci@catalysechange.com  www.catalysechange.com  Catalyse Change CIC  www.catalysechange.com  @CatalyseCh

We would like to thank ERM Foundation who have made this mentoring programme possible with their generous support.  Also to Pukka Herbs and NatraCare who have sponsored bursaries.

Background Notes

Why we do it

  • Teenage girls are being failed, they face a multitude of challenges from; cyber bullying, body image issues, anxiety and other mental health issues.
  • The UK is the 6th richest country in the world yet we still don’t have gender equality, with a gender pay gap of 18.1% last year.
  • In a rapidly changing world schools often don’t provide the information and skills to enable young women to pursue the career opportunities now available in sustainability.
  • In response to these challenges, Catalyse Change CIC was established in 2016 to inspire, empower & skill young women to be ‘the change they wish to see in the world.’