Hispanotech.ca is pleased to lead the 2018 Mentorship Program, a 12-week mentoring program now in its fifth session. With the objective of helping Canadian-Hispanics accelerate their integration within the professional Canadian labour market, this program has impacted the lives of hundreds of Hispanics since 2015.
This year’s program is organized in partnership with CCPA (Canadian Colombian Professional Association), Javerianos in Canada, ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association), and PwC’s “Latin Connection” employee resource group. “Joining forces with other professional associations has allowed us to grow the program and serve participants in several areas beyond IT, including Finance, Marketing, Legal, Engineering, and others”, said Carlos Paz-Soldan, President of Hispanotech, adding, “Networking is a critical activity for immigrants, and we provide a vehicle to do it in a friendly, familiar environment”.
Gabriel Sorozobal, Hispanotech’s Director and Lead of the Mentorship Committee, shared that 224 applications to participate were received, consisting of 102 Mentors and 122 Mentees, more than double the numbers of 2017. These figures have skyrocketed in four years since the beginning of the program in 2015, were 9 Mentor-Mentee pairs were arranged and now in 2018, there are 99 pairs. This growth rate is a proof of the success of the mentorship, with more than 50 mentees obtaining employment in their field, either during the length of the program or in the following three months.
“Besides growing, we have also enhanced the support for the mentees and mentors by adding an English Proficiency Test and a Resume Review Workshop, both contributed by corporate sponsors, as well as an Entrepreneurship Track, for Mentees that are planning or in the process of launching a business”, said Galo Ginocchio, Director of Hispanotech. “To accommodate growth, we have also added cloud-based tools for tracking of Mentor-Mentee interactions and progress, trouble escalation to Super Mentors, and an online Dashboard that lets participants compare their progress to the cohort. It also makes it easier for our Mentorship Operations staff to manage the program and communicate with participants”, he added.
The kick-off, a standing room only event, took place on August 23rd in the Toronto office of PwC, also a corporate sponsor, and counted with the presence of the consuls of Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. Univision TV provided a camera crew to cover the event and conduct interviews.
On September 20th, in the second meeting of the program, the status of the group’s overall mentor-mentee process development was discussed. The objective of the meeting was to provide support and guidance on how to work better together to overcome challenges and reach objectives.
The graduation ceremony for the 2018 Mentorship Program will take place on November 21st , 2018
