Linklaters & ELBA – Mentoring Works Programme

The East London Business Alliance’s (ELBA) Mentoring Works programme, established in 1996, has provided professional business mentors from the City of London and Canary Wharf to thousands of young people from local secondary schools, Sixth Forms, and colleges. Mentors and mentees are matched on a nine-month programme aimed at guiding young individuals in making their own discoveries, decisions, and developing essential skills for future life and work. Linklaters has been actively involved in Mentoring Works for 20 years, contributing 600 mentors to support 1000 students.

For the past decade, Linklaters has consistently partnered with Clapton Girls’ Academy in Hackney, offering mentors to students in Year 10 and the Sixth Form. The tailored guidance provided by Linklaters mentors, coupled with authentic workplace experiences and opportunities to meet professionals, has significantly contributed to the maturity and independence of mentees. It has also raised their aspirations and broadened their understanding of potential career pathways. Mentors and mentees typically meet for one-hour sessions every two weeks, covering a diverse range of topics such as CV writing, interview skills, career options, further education, study skills, and personal development.

Evaluations have shown, year on year, that mentees develop their business awareness, confidence, problem solving, speaking, listening, aiming high, staying positive, creativity, teamwork and leadership. Mentees are asked to score themselves against the focus stages identified from the Universal Framework for all 8 essential skills at the start and the end of the programme.