Voices from mentors: When giving becomes inspiration in return
Many BC4C mentors were not only advisers; they also came away inspired to change their own career paths.
Translated from Thai · reviewed by the CF team
The relationship between mentors and Champions in BC4C did not flow in only one direction. The B.E. 2560 impact evaluation report recorded that some mentors were so inspired by their mentoring experience that they changed their own career paths.
One mentor said that the experience made her realise that her skills could be used to address social problems in practical ways. She and her fellow mentor colleagues felt so inspired that they proposed that their company launch a similar programme. Although the proposal was ultimately not approved, she decided to move to an organisation that directly supports social enterprises. Her colleague moved to the social enterprise unit of their former company. Another mentor said that after the programme ended, he continued to look for opportunities to advise social startups.
In practice, mentors and Champions met an average of only 2-3 times throughout the project, because both sides had considerable freedom to decide how they would work together. This also offers an opportunity for the project to improve its matching process and clarify shared goals in the next cohort.