RSA US Mentorship Program: Mentee information
Who is a typical Mentee?
A mentee is an RSA Fellow who has a need, desire, problem, or goal they would like to work through with another Fellow. This could be navigating a career pivot, seeking specialized support for a project, managing a challenging situation, expanding beyond your normal scope of thinking, and more. You do not need to be a young person to sign up to be a mentee, but all mentees are advised to spend some time clarifying the specific goals, issues, or desires you would like support with.
What does a Mentee have to do?
There are two mentorship program cohorts each year; one in the (northern hemisphere) spring, and one in the (northern hemisphere) fall. To participate as a mentee, you will need to sign up on the participation form listed below by the relevant due date.
The mentee will be sent a toolkit that outlines the participation steps they must take to match with a mentor and begin the program.
The process is also summarized here:
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The mentee begins by identifying three Fellows they are interested in inviting to be their mentor. They can search through the mentors database and MyRSA to identify three Fellows.
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Next, the mentee invites each of these three Fellows to an informational interview, where they can get a better sense of whether or not working with this person would be a good fit for what they’re looking for support with.
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Once these interviews are complete, the mentee selects the person (or multiple people, if the mentee has the capacity to work with multiple people) and officially requests them as a mentor.
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If the Fellow accepts, the match is made. Both mentee and mentor join an orientation call for their cohort that will set them up to begin working together over the course of the following three months.
Sign up to be a Mentee
To sign up to be a mentee, complete the participation form. Once you complete the participation form, you will be sent the Mentee Toolkit which contains the detailed instructions for participation.
Below are the due dates to sign up as a mentee for a mentorship cohort:
Spring 2021 cohort: February 20th, 2021
Fall 2021 cohort: August 20th, 2021
Resources for Mentees
Below you will find some resources to enhance your experience as a mentee:
From previous Mentees:
“My mentor has been pushing me and has given me the motivation to push myself to do things that I otherwise wouldn’t do. It’s been a long time coming to have space for this kind of introspection."
Mentee, Cohort 1
“I went into this with very clear goals, and got everything that I wanted out of it. We have this amazing network of really smart people, and this program helps you to connect with the broader community. All the dues for the RSA are now totally worth it!”
Mentee, Cohort 2
“Being a mentee felt really special, and it’s been one of the most rewarding parts of me being a part of the Fellowship over the past nine years. I had two mentors and the combination of the two offered very different approaches, but both of the relationships will definitely keep going after this is over.”
Mentee, Cohort 3