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I’ve been thinking about how mentoring matters even more during Covid-19. During this time of uncertainty, the generations behind us may need some extra support to keep them on track for the future. After all, mentors can help boost confidence in difficult times.
What are you doing to help someone just behind you? For a while, the general thinking was that once someone had a lot of success, then they would have the time to give back. That’s not going to cut it today. Any time you move a step forward, you should turn around and see who’s a step behind and see how you can help bring them through the door too. This works for founders helping would-be founders and tech talent helping new talent. Instead of lunches and handshakes, we can set up a Google Hangout chat, communicate via Slack, or even an old-fashioned phone call.
A few ways I am doing that this year is mentoring with Connect All to help a new solo founder, and I will begin mentoring at SD Workforce Partnership’s Income Sharing Agreement mentorship program. While I do like to help many people by orienting them to resources and connections in the community, mentoring I believe, is a longer term dedication, where you continuously check in with a mentee and help her or him make progress over time.
In fact, San Diego’s thriving tech community was built in part due to strong mentors and mentoring programs.
A few local places are looking for entrepreneurship and talent mentors: SDSU Lavin Center, UCSD The Basement, Fokcus, EvoNexus, Connect w/ SDVG Springboard, Miramar College REC, SCORE, UCSD’s Institute for the Global Entrepreneur. Who else are we missing on this list?
As Techstars says, #GiveFirst. And if you’re in need of a mentor, check out Connect’s Meet a Mentor event.
Cheers,
P.S. Have you seen the leaked SD Startup Month schedule?
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