iNTERESTED IN BECOMING A MENTOR OR VOLUNTEER?
Thank you for your interest in becoming a mentor with #shemeets. As Alberta's founding and largest mentoring organization for women of colour entrepreneurs — our program connects emerging diverse female leaders with mentors in a workshop and networking format. For the remainder of 2022, all our events and workshops will be virtual to be mindful of COVID-19 recommendations.
We are seeking diverse females within the following professional fields to act as mentors:
- STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)
- Creative industries (fine arts, music, film, fashion related businesses etc.)
- Food-based businesses
- E-commerce/online businesses
- Consultancy-based businesses (across any industry)
- Energy-based businesses
- Social enterprises (across any discipline)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why does #shemeets focus on women of colour and Indigenous females?
- Below are some of the reasons our programming is focused on WOC and Indigenous females.
- Many women of color entrepreneurs and Indigenous females face a double bias due to both their race and gender. This in turn creates difficulties when it comes to obtaining funding, reaching out to potential partners, and even networking.
2. Lack of representation in leadership roles in Canada's business and entrepreneurial ecosystems
3. Lack of mentorship
- Mentorship is a valuable resource that benefits many businesses, especially in the early stages. However, there tends to be fewer mentorship opportunities available to women entrepreneurs in general.
4. Lack of access to capital and funding
- According to a recent study by Fundera, “women entrepreneurs get offered smaller loans across every product, from the same groups”. Female entrepreneurs seeking venture capital do not seem to fare any better. Research confirms that investors actually prefer entrepreneurial pitches by attractive men.
5. Educating highly-skilled and fastest growing populations contribute to Canada's innovative and entrepreneurial competitiveness.
- Visible minority women born in Canada are more likely to have a post-secondary degree than other populations who do not identify as a visible minority
- 47.7% of Canadian-born visible minority women of core working age had a university degree, compared with 25.8% of same-aged women who were not a visible minority”. (Statistics Canada, 2017.)
- Additionally, visible minority women are more likely than non-visible minority men and women to have a post-secondary degree in a fields less studied by women such as computer sciences, mathematics and engineering.
- 4.4% of non-visible minority men had a degree in computer science and mathematics compared to 4.8% of visible minority women. (Statistics Canada, 2017.)
- Canada’s Indigenous population growing 4 times faster than rest of country. (CBC, 2017.)
What does a #shemeets mentor do?
- A mentor helps their mentees through their entrepreneurial journey by leading an-one hour workshop where the mentor share their advice and trains mentees on a skill relevant to their field. Alternatively, mentors can participate in our virtual speed mentor sessions or share their advice/expertise as a #shemeets mentor feature.
- For example: Marketing Executive teaching "Branding 101: Essentials to Building a Brand."
How many workshops are hosted per the year?
- On an ad hoc basis.
Does #shemeets offer one-on-one mentorship programs?
- At time time, we offer virtual group mentorship sessions.
What types of professional/entrepreneurial experience does a mentor need to have?
- Mentors should ideally have seven to ten years of experience as an industry professional/leader
- Mentors must demonstrate an understanding and experience in entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial thinking
- Mentors must have experience in translating an idea to a business/collective/organization/community group etc.
Are there any other volunteer opportunities with #shemeets besides being a mentor?
- Yes!
- We are looking for a digital media coordinator, partnerships and events coordinator and project manager.
- The digital media coordinator role requires a 2-3 hour commitment per week to update #shemeets social media channels and site.
- The project manager role will require a 5-10 hour commitment during certain months to prepare for our workshop in terms of coordinating with mentees and mentors to send email communications.
- The partnerships and events coordinator is a role reserved for someone for who love to build relationships in the community by identifying groups that align with #shemeets' goals and can act as a #shemeets ambassador. It will also require light event coordination duties for workshops.
- Please contact [email protected] for more details.