Mentorship Programme ‘Foundation Futures’ Launches to Support Young Creatives
The UK Creative Festival (UKCF), in partnership with the Creative Mentor Network (CMN), has announced the launch of Foundation Futures, an industry mentorship programme for aspiring creatives from low-income backgrounds.
The programme has so far attracted the support of 24 leading creative companies, who have committed to helping 30 young people identified by Creative Mentor Network. The 16-week programme offers a hybrid model of learning, with participating companies able to choose whether they meet their mentees online or in-person
Creative Mentor Network, a charity established to tackle employment barriers faced by disadvantaged youth, is aiming the programme specifically at people in Thanet and Kent, aged 16 and over, who have qualified for free school meals.
Over the course of the programme, mentors will receive training on how to work with young creatives from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, covering the following:
- Why is diversity an issue in our industry and how can we change things?
- Coaching and inclusive leadership.
- What is social justice? Cultural and social capital explained.
- Diversity strategy in your business.
The training aims to give mentors the tools to be inclusive coaches and leaders, an invaluable asset to anyone looking to address diversity in their company in future.
Supporting companies so far include, Caviar, NOW, Ogilvy, VCCP, Mother, Orange Door, Leland Music, String & Tins, DentsuMB, ENVY Post, Weber Shandwick (taking two students), Droga5, Rascal Post, St Lukes, The Corner, Gravity Road, AKQA, Sister Music, BBC Studio (taking two students), 750mph, Jelly London, and Superunion.
The Foundation Futures programme will launch with a mentor training session on 16th May 2022 and culminate in a final showcase event on 8th September 2022 at the UK Creative Festival at Dreamland, Margate.
Aspiring young creatives can now apply to be considered for mentoring through the CMN site or Instagram.
To enquire about the few remaining company vacancies, contact Jeremy Green at the UK Creative Festival; jeremy@creativecircle.co.uk.
