The new year is a time when people worldwide celebrate the birth of a new beginning. It’s also a period when many people reflect on the past and resolve to reshape themselves. The interVivos volunteer board is no exception.
In the coming weeks, the interVivos team will be planning our events and programs for Edmontonians in 2022. To guide our planning, we decided to look at past mentorship programs to better understand the needs of mentors and protégés in Edmonton. Most importantly, this research will help to enhance the event and program experience for attendees — a key focus area of interVivos’ strategic plan.
These are the programs we took a deep dive into for this research:
Fall 2018
Summer 2019
Winter 2019
Summer 2020
Fall 2020
Fall 2021
These programs had 162 participants in total; half mentors, half protégés.
Who are our participants? Why are they interested in mentorship? What are they looking for in a mentor?
Approximately 16 % of our mentors are repeat participants, while 84 % are first-time mentors. It’s great that we have been able to find so many new mentors who are willing to spend their time and energy toward helping someone else achieve their goals. We also very much appreciate our repeat mentors. It’s fantastic to see these Edmonton community leaders willing to continually give their time, share their knowledge and experience with others, and make a positive impact. If you are interested in volunteering to be a mentor in 2022, please email connect@intervivos.ca.
It is incredible to see that 20% of our protégés have been a part of our mentorship program more than once. These protégés have seen the value of the interVivos mentorship program and are hungry for more. Our repeat protégés are featured regularly on our blog. For example, here is a post with a protégé who has participated four times.
Our research shows that the majority of our participants come from the private sector, followed by the public, then nonprofit sectors. We also have had a few postsecondary students participate as protégés. Our private sector mentors are small business owners and work with for-profit companies. For example, they own consulting firms and restaurants. Our public sector mentors are employed with the different orders of government. Some people who’ve been mentors from this sector include medical doctors, police officers, and policymakers. Our nonprofit mentors have come from impactful organizations in the community. Some have been fund development officers, communication leaders, and executive directors.
Why are people participating in our mentorship program? Take a look.
Why do you want to be a mentor? What do you hope to accomplish with your protégé? What is one thing you will provide your protégé during the program?
These numbers show themes and the percentage of mentors who included them in their registration responses.
Why do you want to be a protégé? What do you hope to accomplish with your mentor? What is one thing your mentor will provide you during the program?
These numbers show the percentage of protégés that included each theme in their registration responses.
These are the qualities that the 81 mentors included in our research noted they are looking for in their ideal protégé.
These are the qualities that the 81 protégés included in our research noted they are looking for in their ideal mentor.
Interested in joining an upcoming mentorship program? Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, andTwitter) so you don’t miss out on your chance to register as a protégé. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please drop us an email at connect@intervivos.ca. Also, check out the research we did a few years ago on some earlier mentorship programs.