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PPS Foundation launches pilot mentorship programme

Published: March 1, 2017

The PPS Foundation has launched a mentorship programme through its graduate outreach portal, Professionals Connect. The offering is one of the ways in which the website, a CSR initiative by the Foundation, strives to give back to the South African youth. 

 

The mentorship programme, which was launched in early February, will provide students, professional graduates, and entry-level employees with the opportunity to connect with and be mentored by established or retired professionals from various trades and industries.

 

“We believe in excellence and equipping our youth with the best skills to propel them forward - what better way to inspire these individuals than pairing them up with professionals who have walked the path and have a wealth of knowledge to back that up,” says Executive Head of PPS Foundation & Academy Vuyo Kobokoane.  

 

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After receiving an overwhelming response from PPS members, employees and the public, the programme’s pilot, which received expressions of interest in the hundreds from potential mentors, now boasts a syndicate of seasoned professionals. A stringent selection process took place, resulting in an impressive final pool of mentors from sectors ranging from medicine, engineering, commerce and law amongst others. This offering is freely available to all registered users of the portal, and interested parties seeking mentorship or would like to become mentors are encouraged to register via www.professionalsconnect.co.za. 

 

Having advocated for the need for mentoring of young South African professionals, Kobokoane says this programme will be a litmus test that will indicate that when executed well, such programmes will become more prevalent in our society, making the idea of mentorship a norm. “We believe that through engaging with mentors, mentees will ignite an innate potency they possess and this will lay the foundation for success in their studies, careers and other aspects of their lives,” she stresses. 

 

Beyond the transfer of skills about the industries in which they operate, mentors are required to engage in an intercultural exchange where they will expose mentees to different geographic, cultural and socio-economic concepts that will help them understand and develop a broader range of perspectives. All this is set to happen during the 10-month duration of the programme before the next mentor cycle intake in late November 2017. 

 

“As an organisation of graduate professionals for graduate professionals we believe we are on the right path by assisting young professionals to progress in their careers and beyond that,” concludes Kobokoane.   

 

For more information on the Professionals Connect Mentorship Programme, email [email protected]

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