Record number of participants in Beedie’s Mentors in Business program
Mar 07, 2017
The Mentors in Business Spring 2017 Breakfast Kick Off event
The Spring 2017 cohort of the Beedie School of Business’s Mentors in Business (MIB) program, which pairs Beedie’s undergraduate and graduate students with industry professionals, is the largest group to date, bringing together 184 pairings. The program connects students beginning their career search with mentors, including CEOs, VPs, and Senior Directors from the business community, who want to inspire, motivate and share their knowledge.
The MIB program runs twice each year and lasts six months, during which time mentors and mentees meet on a monthly basis while also attending organized events throughout the duration of the program. Since its inception in 2011, over 800 mentors have taken part in the program. One of them, Don Holmstrom, President of Value Drivers Inc., has been a mentor six times.
“This program is incredibly invaluable for students to be able to access what goes on in the real world outside of the halls of education, so that’s what inspired me to become a mentor,” says Holmstrom.
MIB aims to connect students with individuals in their areas of career interest to support them in making better-informed career choices and to help expand their understanding of their desired industry. Mentors in the program work for many leading companies in the business world, including BC Hydro, Broadband TV, Lululemon Athletica, and SAP.
The program also reflects Beedie’s commitment to experiential learning, and providing opportunities to put lessons from the classroom into practice.
“It was a great opportunity to expand my network and build a relationship with someone that had a lot of experience in an industry that I was really interested in learning about–someone who could help support me in terms of making career choices as I was moving into the workforce full-time,” says MBA student Jacqueline Norris.
To learn more about Mentors in Business or to get involved in the next cohort, please contact the Program Manager, Paulette Sangalang (mentorsinbusiness@sfu.ca).