How can financial service providers and young people mentor, coach, and sponsor one another for better outcomes?
One of the young Futuremakers Participants, Mati Remi, explained: “We've received a bit of seed funding, and [our] mentors will help us best utilise these resources. This is something that we were very much looking for—support and financial literacy .... Having highly experienced and highly skilled mentors, I believe, can very much maximise our success rate.”
Bill Winters wholeheartedly agreed:
Mentorships can be extremely helpful. And sounding boards can be hugely important."
These benefits were repeated again during a separate conversation about supporting micro-entrepreneurs and developing personal resilience.
Speakers throughout the Forum were keen to share that decision-makers within financial organisations will benefit from learning from young people, and in reverse, young people will benefit from mentoring by financial service professionals. As Khadija Hashimi, Head, Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing, Africa, Middle East Region and Country Head, Pakistan, Standard Chartered Bank, reflected: “Engaging with young people reminds me that we should always aspire to inspire, dream big, and have the passion to live those dreams, and always be open to take feedback to do better.”
With this in mind, young people were encouraged to look for opportunities to influence others and share their own learning, even if they were at early stages of their entrepreneurship journey. Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO, Stemettes, explains: “Each of us has a sphere of influence, people that listen to us, that respect and look up to us. The challenge is, how do you do that for others?”
