As Executive Director of The Mentra, Atlantic Canada’s new mentoring organization, Janna Hare expected to be matching mentors and mentees like a dating service. But she’s found that people want to choose who they work with.
So now, The Mentra is establishing MentraConnect, a cloud-based platform that suggests mentors based on an entrepreneur’s profile, but also allows mentees to search for mentors using keywords.
“I’ve learned there is a lot of chemistry in mentoring relationships,” said Hare who is a certified executive coach with a background in HR (Human Resources) and leadership development.
“If conversation doesn’t flow easily between mentors and mentees that can be a problem,” she said, during an interview from her base at Moncton’s Venn Centre.
The Atlantic region has many great mentors and Hare is looking for more to become part of The Mentra’s new talent pipeline, which, she hopes, will eventually become global.
Those who volunteer will be able to attend a variety of development opportunities to deepen their skills. Hare hopes the strategic partnerships she’s developing with other groups will allow The Mentra to offer in-depth training around the region.
“We want to build a center of excellence around mentorship,” she said. “I’m working to developing strategic partnerships with similar organizations so that we avoid duplication.”
The beauty of the platform, said Hare, is that it can also link mentors and mentees in different locations. If face-to-face meetings are not important, the network could allow founders to work with mentors elsewhere.
Hare stresses the difference between coaching and mentoring.
“As a coach, I could coach a lawyer but not mentor one,” she said. “Coaching works with more general principles. As a coach I ask questions that help people uncover their answers. A mentor can offer advice because s/he has experience of the same sector.”
Hare said that some early stage entrepreneurs with unclear goals benefit from working with coaches rather than mentors. When their goals are clarified, they move on to working with mentors.
“Often, mentees expect mentors to be the guide that has all the answers,” she said. “They often forget they need to be clear about their own goals.”
For the last eight months, Hare has been working alone at the mentoring site. She has just made her first hire—of program co-ordinator, Shelagh Cooney.
“I’m working on the five-year plan,” Hare said. “It seems really aspirational, but we have our vision. Now we have to work hard to live into it.”
The Mentra began when the New Brunswick Government put out a request for proposals for an organization to mentor entrepreneurs. Seven organizations came together with a single proposal, which won.
The founding members were: The Wallace McCain Institute; BioNB; the New Brunswick Business Council; Planet Hatch; the Pond-Deshpande Centre; the Venn Centre; and the New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network.
The founding groups will provide the first mentees who will likely be working in tech as tech is central to many businesses.
Hare is passionate about mentorship because she knows from experience what it can do for people.
She began her own career by working for the Co-op College, which offered training for co-ops. It was there that she encountered her own first mentor, Sheelagh Greek.
“Sheelagh ignited my passion and influenced me toward being socially minded. She taught me that learning and development is a process of continuous growth.
“Now, being part of an organization that’s furthering mentorship jazzes me every day.”
Hare’s work is fuelled partly by concern for her two grown children and eight-month-old grandson, Owen.
“I want my family to have opportunities here so they can stay if they want. I hope building this network will become one way to keep emerging talent in this region and provide a full global perspective.”
Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support start-up
companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies are featured in this column nor do they have the right to review columns before they are published.
