MENTOR’s Workforce Development Program: Advancing Workplace Equity Through Corporate Partnerships
April 28, 2021
Connect Focus Grow, Workforce Development, Corporate Engagement
“All young people need equal access to opportunity. They need a chance to leverage their strengths and learn what their assets are. And that is what workplace mentoring can provide for them.” – Charline Alexandre-Joseph, MENTOR’s Senior Director of Systems Innovation
Recognizing the need for mentoring mindsets in our country’s workplaces to increase inclusivity and support young people, MENTOR National hired its first-ever Senior Director of Systems Innovation, Charline Alexandre-Joseph, in January of 2020. Six weeks into her new role, much of the nation transitioned to a work-from-home culture because of the pandemic. Entrepreneurial at heart, Charline was the perfect person to incorporate the adaptability needed at this pivotal time. She says, “Although in-person relationships were lost, like all organizations, we ramped up technology to enhance what we can offer in terms of training. And we found that we were able to make connections across the country that we simply did not imagine before. So, it opened many doors, and it taught us a lot about innovation.”
Charline’s interest in creating relationship-centered workplaces was shaped by her professional experiences as an AmeriCorps Highland Street Ambassadors of Mentoring (AOM) and leading work for a statewide juvenile justice system, as well as her personal experience being raised by a single mother from Haiti. “As a first-generation American, I have a passion for advocating for young people in the workplace who might not have the connections that typically provide career pathways. It’s truly an honor to lead MENTOR’s Workforce Development Initiative and advocate for people until they are ready to advocate for themselves. I get very excited about the opportunity to shift workplace systems to be more equitable. This is not just a job for me; this is heart work.”
At MENTOR, Charline works closely with franchise-based corporations and eight of the twenty-four MENTOR Affiliates across the nation to incorporate Labor Market Information (LMI) into strategies for mentoring in the workplace. She supports MENTOR’s Affiliates in partnering with career readiness agencies and corporations and helps MENTOR guide corporations into shifting their hiring practices to be more inclusive and equitable for young people.
A key tool in these efforts is Connect|Focus|Grow, MENTOR’s training curriculum originally funded by AT&T with additional multi-year support from The Schultz Family Foundation. The curriculum is a three-pronged approach that equips mentors with skills to support the personal and professional growth of young people, coaches supervisors on how to manage with a mentoring mindset, and guides young people towards engaging mentoring opportunities. Charline says, “The unique thing about Connect|Focus|Grow is that both mentors and mentees have shared with us that they have grown personally because of the program. And it was made possible because our corporate and foundation partners saw its value and actively engaged with us to make it happen.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co., a well-known champion of workplace mentoring and equity, is a long-time supporter of MENTOR. They developed innovative and successful mentoring programs, such as The Fellowship Initiative (TFI), with impressive results. TFI pairs 9th-grade boys of color with JPMorgan Chase mentors throughout their four-year high school journey and boasts an outstanding success rate of 100% of program graduates accepted to postsecondary opportunities. Additionally, the company collaborated with leading experts to develop the Career Readiness Mentoring Program – a program that expanded from a three-week pilot summer in 2019 to a six-week project-based career readiness program serving more than 350 youth nationally with virtual adaptations during the pandemic. They will continue to expand the program with a new ten-year TFI commitment. Charline comments, “JPMorgan Chase’s plan to scale their TFI program across the country will provide more young Black and Latinx young men with career readiness. Their mentorship program will help dissolve barriers for young men of color.”
MENTOR’s corporate partners not only deliver direct mentoring programs, they also explore mentoring solutions for their organizations through a design lab process. Currently, MENTOR and Sanofi are engaging in a design lab which enables MENTOR to conduct roundtable brainstorming sessions across departments and help companies target their involvement in the mentoring movement. After sharing MENTOR’s cornerstone publication, Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™, teams answer targeted questions such as, “What objective of the mentoring initiative do you want to launch?” and create specific programs designed to create more equitable workplaces. “Design labs not only develop and implement a youth mentoring strategy focused on scaling impact and increasing opportunity for young people,” Charline says, “but they also help companies advance their key business goals. Ultimately, they positively contribute to company’s culture, employee retention and satisfaction, and brand experience.”
When envisioning a future where young people can thrive, Charline sees workplaces where mentees can walk into jobs, envision career paths, remain in the industry, and pay it forward by mentoring someone else. Describing this as the concept of “occupational legacy,” she says relationship-centered workplaces can then expand definitions of success — not just for one young person or family, but for an entire community. To work with MENTOR and help your organization develop a mentoring mindset, contact Charline Alexandre-Joseph. To get started on developing a mentoring mindset in the workplace, take our Workplace Equity Pledge.