As we move rapidly through immense civilizational change, there is a deep responsibility to pause, and consider one another. If we choose to place mentorship at the heart of human connection , then this moment could create a lasting intergenerational future. To arrive at this future, defined by the flourishing of compassion and the highest reaches of creativity, experience and common cause, is to enter the era of mentorship.
The strategy for a shared future
To realise the promise of a new era, we are investing in the architecture of social change and encouraging others to do the same. We believe it is more important than ever to invest in;
Fellowship, sympathetic imagination and wider reason
Learning, creativity and change
Let’s take on the global challenge of social poverty directly and build flourishing ecosystems that are informed, inspired, and intergenerational.
At SAYes, our part in this landscape is to accelerate access to high quality relational support, especially for those impacted by chance differences of background, geography or circumstance.
Building an Inspired and Informed global community.
We are investing in SAYes mentee community, supporting the formation of ever growing mentee and alumni groups, serving as launchpad for new connections and networks, for peer to peer support, for youth led advisory functions, and for broader systems and policy engagement across all sectors impacting and impacted by young people.
For example, in 2021 members of our alumni group in South Africa made a submission to Parliament to amend the Children’s Act in favour of mentorship provision for care-leavers. Working together, our SA and UK alumni groups have hosted international #MakingConnection events, with guest speakers from Africa, South East Asia, India and the UK – including recently the current Chief of Staff to British Ambassador for Ethiopia.
*The Mouseion [mou-sei-on]
noun
: A sanctuary, shrine or space dedicated to the source of inspiration (the muses), often associated with the study of the arts and sciences. Origin of the word ‘museum’;
Building the world’s leading Mentorship Training Academy.
We are investing in SAYes mentorship courses, in stratifying levels and standards, scaling access and delivery platforms, and aligning with (and defining new) qualification and accreditation pathways.
The best way to create lasting change is through relationships. When high value social connections are structured and supported they profoundly accelerate the acquisition of skills, values and knowledge in any area of life.
We understand the nature of this structure and support, and have used our knowledge to develop and support a model of mentorship that has deeply improved life outcomes for thousands of young people since 2008.
We have also seen the impact of this model in strengthening the effectiveness of broader service provision (e.g., social work and adolescent mental health services as well as impact initiatives like scholarships from private schools and business). With mentors, we see the development of a resilient and adaptive approach to learning and change, and we see the refinement of human-centric skills and values necessary to achieve personal and professional growth in a rapidly changing global landscape. SAYes mentors become meaningful and effective social change champions.
We have also shown that our model generalises beyond the youth sector – with many mentors reflecting on its use outside of work with their mentees, for their own growth and development. We have also learnt that with the addition of novel domains, the model can be used to shape change management within an organisational context – offering a more lateral approach to knowledge sharing and consultancy, especially for grassroots organisations.
*The Academy [acad-e-my]
noun
: A place of study or philosophical teaching, most famously the school founded by Plato in ancient Athens, devoted to the pursuit of wisdom, dialectic, and the cultivation of the soul through reason. The first known institution of higher learning in the Western world
: From Ancient Greek Ἀκαδήμεια (Akadḗmeia), named after the hero Akademos, on whose sacred olive grove just outside of Athens Plato established his school around 387 BCE. The surrounding area, consecrated to Athena – goddess of wisdom – had long served as a place of quiet reflection.
Building a resource of scientifically credible content for behaviour and perspective change.
We are investing in behavioural and social science, to curating, developing, and sharing the best tools, tactics and strategies for behaviour and perspective change
We are also investing in evaluating our behavioural interventions, in developing ‘good explanations’ for personal change and the best ways to test and refine them.
Though their mentorships, mentors and mentees are taught to understand and contextually apply actionable and personalised content for positive behavioural and perspective change together.
Importantly, all content is designed to be used relationally, that is, together – leveraging the power of relationships to enhance impact – and is led by the mentee.
All available interventions provided by SAYes are built to target multiple levers for change, including feeling states, beliefs, explanations, habits and conditions.
SAYes content is delivered in monthly group settings (including masterclasses), as well as in individual appointments with SAYes Transition Specialists.
*The Lyceum [ly-see-um]
noun
: A public place of learning and discussion, most notably the site of Aristotle’s philosophical school in ancient Athens, dedicated to inquiry through observation and reason.
