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Meet the Morgan Stanley Mentoring Programme Class of 2024

“[My mentor] made me believe in myself again”

Over the summer, 12 tech gurus from financial firm Morgan Stanley were matched with those who work in the third sector in Scotland to embark on a six month mentoring programme through Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network.

Morgan Stanley is a global leader in financial services and giving back is a core value. The team are encouraged to use their talents and skills to help empower not-for-profits to achieve their goals. Which is exactly what our Specialist Volunteer Network do – connect professional skills with charities so help strengthen the sector and build resilience. A match made in heaven.

The pairs met monthly to share challenges facing their charities and the tech that could solve it. However, the mentoring went beyond a simple knowledge share with many citing soft skills as one of the main advantages of taking part.

Recently, all the matches came together at Morgan Stanley HQ for a graduation and to share their experiences.

One participant said,

“[My mentor] made me believe in myself again”

Another said,

“This is not something we would normally have access to so it has been incredibly valuable.”

When speaking of her time on the programme. Rachel from Wellbeing Scotland said, “I had not long joined the charity when the CEO recommended the mentoring programme and I was quickly matched.

“I was looking to take on a new project and my mentor helped me develop evidence-based outcomes and not only start the service but grow it too. It’s been fantastic to have that monitoring and evaluation lens implemented from the start. It’s exceeded anything I expected to achieve. I can now apply my skills further and scale the learnings organisation wide.

“But even the softer skills have helped me immeasurably. My mentor Naghat is very positive and would say ‘It’s not a challenge it’s an opportunity’ which has rewired my brain! It’s not an obstacle it’s a chance to grow.”

When talking about her mentor Rachel added, “She is brilliant. I can’t speak highly enough of her. I am so grateful to Naghat, this programme has been invaluable. I am about to record and report trends within our services and use data to tell a story. This means I can advocate not only for myself but for those accessing the service. It’s amazing what you can learn from a different industry.”

Anna from Women’s Aid South Lanarkshire & East Renfrewshire (WASLER) said, “The mentoring programme has been so beneficial. Being able to take the time to focus on what you’re trying to achieve is difficult in the third sector, you’re often busy and being pulled in different directions. It was great to take the time for a new perspective and to focus.

“Part of my goal was to expand a project, there’s loads I’ve been able to develop and the project has grown and is something much bigger than it started with. Having that different perspective, that analytical point of view, has been so helpful and I will be trying to keep that going forward – getting feedback or looking at the numbers – thinking about feedback and the end goal. I’ll remind myself to take a minute to look back at what you’ve achieved. It’s been great working with someone outside of the sector so I can put something across to someone who doesn’t have lived experience and be like ‘oh yes that does make sense’ which will help us inform our prevention work.”

Anna concluded, “Definitely do the mentoring scheme if given the opportunity. It’s so beneficial the SVN team put so much effort into matches to find someone who can actually help. We wouldn’t have been able to access this skillset otherwise.”

Alex, one of the volunteer mentors from Morgan Stanley (working with Anna from WASLER) reflected on the experience saying, “Participating in the mentorship program has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s been inspiring to learn about the impactful work done by Women’s Aid South Lanarkshire & East Renfrewshire (WASLER). I have really enjoyed getting to know my mentee, learning about her background and discovering the many things we have in common. I am continually impressed by my mentee’s dedication to her role and her goals. Witnessing her progress between our meetings has been truly fulfilling. This program has provided an amazing opportunity to give back, and I strongly encourage anyone considering participation to sign up and explore what the scheme has to offer.”

If your business would be interested in getting involved in the Specialist Volunteer Network, get in touch with our team elaine@inspiringscotland.org.uk