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Personal Mentors

Personal Mentors

Project Background/Need:

With the help of our pool of over 300 companies and individuals who have committed to supporting the program by hiring its participants, Olim Beyahad assists Ethiopian Israeli university graduates in finding jobs compatible with their high level of abilities. All participants are accompanied by our program staff throughout the process, and take part in numerous workshops that provide them with the tools to succeed in their new positions and in the workforce, in general.

However,the organization realized that in order to ensure participants' long-term successful integration into their workplaces and into Israel's job market in general, they must be able to receive regular one-on-one guidance from individuals with experience in the same field. It was thereby decided to establish the Personal Mentors program, which involves pairing each participant with a personal mentor to accompany him/her throughout his/her first year on the job and help him/her work through any problems that arise in the workplace.

While Ethiopian Israelis often lack personal connections with individuals in the business world (something extremely important in today's job market), the Personal Mentors program also serves as a terrific means through which participants can meet many additional professionals in their field (through their personal mentors' colleagues, other contacts, etc.). The program has succeeded in recruiting dozens of managers and businessmen/women in senior positions in the workforce to commit themselves to the program and organization's mission. In turn, these individuals recruited the corporations they head and additional members of their social networks to join our program and vision, as well. This not only helps participants integrate into the network of professionals in their field, but also exposes numerous veteran Israeli professionals to a successful Ethiopian Israeli university graduate with high level abilities. In this way, the Personal Mentors program serves as an additional step towards the abolishment of existing stereotypes about the Ethiopian Israeli community.

Target Population:

Ethiopian Israeli university graduates participating in Olim Beyahad's core program and professionals in leading Israeli companies who are prepared to serve as personal mentors for our participants.

Project Goals:

  • To pair each participant with a personal mentor who will accompany him/her throughout his/her first year on the job, in order to ensure their successful integration into their new jobs and the Israeli workforce, in general.
  • To provide professionals in the forefront of Israel's workforce with the opportunity to volunteer their time in order to assist members of a discriminated community, while instilling in these professionals the importance of giving to others and acceptance of others.
  • To expand the social and professional network of Ethiopian Israeli university graduates.
  • To break down the invisible wall that exists between the professional world and members of the Ethiopian Israeli community and shatter society's existing stereotypes about this community by enabling numerous veteran Israeli employers and employees to become familiar with successful Ethiopian Israeli university graduates.

Method/Project Description:

Each participant of Olim Beyahad's core program is paired with a professional in his/her field who serves as his/her personal mentor throughout his/her first year on the job. The mentor advises and guides the participant, as well as assists him/her with solving issues that arise in the workplace or in his/her life in general. The fact that the mentor comes from the same academic field as the participant is very important, as it enables the mentors to understand specific challenges and help participants in a more targeted and efficient way. Overall, the personal mentors serve as sources of inspiration and role models for the participants.

Each participant meets with his/her mentor on a regular basis, according to need. The mentors also introduce participants to other acquaintances in their field of work with the goal of helping the participants form connections with additional professionals in their field. By connecting the Ethiopian Israeli and veteran Israeli communities and integrating young Ethiopian Israeli adults into Israel's social and professional network, the Personal Mentors program assists in shattering existing social stereotypes about the Ethiopian Israeli community. It also facilitates the empowerment of our participants, who establish personal connections with key figures in Israel's economy, become partners in Israel's social and professional network, and begin to form a young leadership group that will become part of Israel's middle class within several years.

Approximately 250 professionals are currently volunteering their time to serve as personal mentors for our program participants, and we are always looking for additional volunteer mentors to join.