Riddell Mentorship Program
If you are interested in serving as a mentor for future MPM cohorts, please complete the form below. We ask our mentors to be available to meet with our students for one hour a month. Mentorship matches happen in the fall term.
The Riddell Mentorship Program provides one-on-one support for MPM students during their time in the program and as they transition into the workplace.
Ideally, mentors will be:
- Program fellows or alumni of the program,
- Working in the field of political management, and
- Willing to commit about one hour a month to meeting with a student.
The mentor provides:
- Moral support – listening, identifying problems, and encouraging the student,
- Career support – helping the student set goals, choose a career path, and assess their strengths and weaknesses,
- Expertise in the field – helping the student advance their knowledge and skills, and serves as a
- Role model – sharing experiences, achievements and failures.
Students need to:
- Communicate their needs to the mentor,
- Understand the mentor’s expectations,
- Show respect for the mentor’s time, and
- Take the mentoring relationship seriously.
The Relationship
Both mentor and student should meet regularly, ideally about once a month. In-person meetings are recommended, but might not be possible given work/school demands or geographic distance (if a student is matched with a mentor outside of Ottawa). Regular conversations by video call, telephone or email can help to keep the conversation going. Both parties must commit to maintaining the confidentiality of the relationship.
Matching
The mentorship program coordinator will interview incoming students individually with the aim of pairing them with compatible mentors. Considerations will include interests, goals, experiences, partisan affiliation, personality traits, and other factors that may affect the relationship.