Reverse Mentoring with UBS

Reflections on the pilot of the Routes Reverse Mentoring Programme, from Co-Founder Daisy Jacobs.

It is an early September evening and the dark is settling in earlier than it has for the past few months. As it does, a dozen people gather in the Broadgate offices of UBS, dressed ready for a celebration. As more people arrive and drinks and food are laid out, the chatter turns from nervous to excited, slowly bubbling until it fills the room. For many here tonight, this is the first time they are meeting face to face, after three months of online relationship building, digging deep into each other's values, goals and interests, and working to see things from the other's perspective. 

This is the celebration event for the first cohort of Routes' 'Reverse Mentoring Programme', in partnership with UBS.

(Pictured above, Routes Co-Founders Daisy and Leyla speaking to Routes Mentors and UBS Mentees at the start of the Celebration Event.)

As the sun was going down outside and we enjoyed the delicious spread put on by UBS, we listened to heartwarming reflections, and inspiring stories of new relationships built. We heard about pairs connecting through each other's commitment to lifelong learning and growth, and celebrating each other's humility and empathy. Pairs reflected that their self-awareness had grown, both in areas of strengths and weaknesses, but also in an understanding of their values and beliefs. Though mentors and mentees on the programme have hugely different life experiences, we heard pairs reflect on feeling seen and understood by their partners, and that they had connected through shared values and experiences, understanding the many similarities between them, as well as the differences. 

Everyone in the room could see that they had brought something to their partner, and that they had been changed and challenged by them too. A few of the pairs have already committed to staying in touch, and continuing their mentoring outside of the programme… and as big believers in the power of relationships to create long lasting change, this feels like a huge success for us!

The Context

Since 2018, we have been running mentoring programmes with mutual impact. We have supported over 120 women mentees from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds to grow towards their personal and professional goals, with the support of more than 120 professional women mentors from more than 50 different organisations. The impact is two fold: mentees are supported and championed to grow in confidence and reach their goals, whilst their mentors are supported and championed to develop an empowering and impactful set of leadership skills, with the support of the Routes team and in partnership with their mentee. Year on year we have seen the mutual impact that these relationships have, and we wondered whether we could take that impact even further… Which is why we launched our first Reverse Mentoring Programme.

This programme was an opportunity for alumni mentees of our flagship programme (women from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds who have previously worked towards their goals with the support of a Routes mentor) to develop their professional leadership skills, by becoming a mentor to a senior leader from UBS. Their mentees, UBS Managing Directors,  would be mentored across five 1-hour sessions, supporting them to reflect on their own leadership style, connect to their values, and become more inclusive and compassionate leaders. 

(Pictured, right, Routes Mentors’ reflections on ‘what is a mentor’)

Our mentors attended two training sessions with Routes, where we covered the role of a mentor; coaching and mentoring techniques and activities; how to plan and deliver a professional meeting or workshop; telling your professional story and much more. 

Meanwhile, mentees joined us for a launch event, where we talked through the role of a mentor and a mentee; an overview of the UK asylum system and its impact on individuals moving through it; and goal setting for the programme.

Our pairs then went on to have five hours of online meetings together, getting to know one another, exploring their values and how these shape their understanding of leadership, picking apart their ideas and experiences of 'welcome', and more besides. And finally, we gathered together to celebrate their successes, hear about the relationships built, and witness the small but meaningful shifts in each of them.

(Pictured above, Routes Mentor shares some words about her experience)

At the end of the event, the Routes team shared our hopes for the future of this group - how we hoped that the energy, knowledge and awareness each of the participants developed through the programme continues long beyond the celebration event. We hope that each mentee is able to tell colleagues and friends about their experiences and the things they learned, and to make tangible changes in the areas of their personal and professional lives in which they hold power. And we hope that our mentors are able to keep growing, with a deeper understanding of themselves as leaders and changemakers, and with bigger personal and professional toolkits and networks to see them into their next steps.

(Pictured above, Routes Mentors and some of the Routes Team)

What Next

As an organisation, we deliver programmes that are experiential, prioritising 'learning through doing' and valuing relationship building above all else. We are committed to creating experiences that enable people to learn and grow together. We are also committed to interrogating and challenging the hierarchies that prevent some people from holding power, and that perpetuate unequal and oppressive relationships. These power dynamics are everywhere, in workplaces, in educational institutions, and especially in the asylum system. 

We have seen time and again how much can be achieved when these hierarchies are challenged, and people are given the opportunity to build relationships as equals. We have watched people learn about themselves through learning about another person - a person that they trust, respect and admire, and who trusts, respects and admires them too. These relationships can be transformative, both for the individuals at the heart of them, and also for everyone around them. 

If you'd like to join us in our mission of building more transformative relationships through mutually beneficial mentoring experiences, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out to us below.

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