“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
Benjamin Franklin
“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” Steven Spielberg
By definition, mentorship “is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but she or he must have a certain area of expertise.” (Wikipedia)
Over my professional career, I have had the opportunity and privilege of mentoring some young people who have been involved with the juvenile justice system and/or the child protection system. Each of these mentorship relationships have been both challenging and extremely rewarding at the same time. I would like to think that, along the way, my involvement with them has had some positive impact on their lives.
To me, mentorship is growing a relationship. It is challenging work for both the mentor and the mentee, it requires tremendous effort from both parties if it is to be successful and it has potential for great reward for both people. Never has this been truer for me than in my current mentorship role with Carlos McDonald.
Carlos is an intelligent, incredibly hard-working young man, and a survivor of the child welfare system himself. Now at the young age of 31 he is not only being mentored but also acts as a mentor to other young people who have lived experience in the child protection system. Carlos is dogged about establishing a youth in care inspired mentorship program to assist young people transitioning from a life in the child welfare system to living independently. He has been working hard, over a number of years, to establish the World Changer Society and he and his group were recently successful in obtaining two-year funding to launch a mentorship initiative for youth transitioning from care to independence. His engaging personality, his ability to inspire younger and older people and his passion for his cause make him a strong leader. But a leader who is also able to listen and learn from those who have other types of lived experience, both professional and personal.
Carlos was one of many involved in leading the committee Our Voice Our Turn (OVOT) in the 2011 hearings held at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. OVOT was responsible for evoking Article 12 (Respect for the views of the child) from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) by bringing youth in and from care from all over the province to share their stories for the purpose creating a better future for youth in care and leaving care -which was heard by several high ranking government officials, MPP’s and other stakeholders. Carlos was also a volunteer member of the panels team, an initiative of the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth and is currently being considered for membership in the Prime Minister’s youth advisory committee.
To put it mildly – this kid is no slouch! Carlos works hard at listening and learning, at being an inspiration to other young people and to earning the respect of others in places of power and influence. Mentoring an individual like Carlos is indeed a pleasure. It is a pleasure that comes with challenges, a need for patience at times, many opportunities for me as the mentor to learn from Carlos as well and the huge satisfaction of witnessing his growth into an impressive young leader.
I once worked with a leader who maintained that “friendship has no place in a mentorship relationship”. To them I say — you are wrong! I am proud of the fact that Carlos and I have a strong mentorship relationship and I am very proud to consider him a great friend as well.
Written by Fernando Saldanha, Managing Director, Barnes Management Group
Photo Copyright: Jacek Dudzinski, 123RF
