Macquarie employee mentors a young person.
16 May 2018
The Macquarie Group Foundation recently held its inaugural Mentoring Week in the Americas. In just one week, Macquarie staff volunteered over 800 hours, engaging with over 250 young people and benefiting 25 non-profit organisations. This specific focus on mentoring is part of the Macquarie Group Foundation's new Americas grant-making strategy to support college access, persistence and career attainment for first-generation, low-income and underrepresented youth.
“Professional mentors are often the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to success for first-generation youth,” says Erin Shakespeare, Americas Head, Macquarie Group Foundation.
“These mentors are able to motivate them by sharing their own experiences and professional insights. This helps them build their skills and confidence, giving them the tools to persist through college and obtain meaningful careers. The time that our staff takes to support these young people is an investment in the future.”
According to the Pell Institute, only 11% of first-generation students graduate college. Macquarie Group Foundation will aim to make an impact by supporting transformative programs and providing young people career exposure, mentoring, access to social networks, internships, and financial support.
Mentoring can take many forms, such as sharing knowledge, coaching young people on essential college admissions, job attainment, business, and socio-emotional skills that can contribute to their college and career success.
There were over 25 volunteering and awareness events across the region for Macquarie staff to participate in during Mentoring Week. Many of these involved Macquarie’s strategic grantees, including a job readiness workshop with America Needs You, mentor training with MENTOR, the National Mentorship Partnership, and a career exploration workshop with Philadelphia Futures.
