For Changemakers

This program provides many benefits to you as a Changemaker and enables you to:

• Develop a supportive relationship with an Expert
• Get assistance in addressing particular issues that you may be facing
• Develop problem solving skills through effective advice in any area
• Build confidence and get encouragement from an experienced individual
• Get professional advice and guidance to make the best decision in any given situation

For Experts

The Experts also draw benefits from a mentoring relationship. As a Mentor, one gets the opportunity to share their wisdom and experiences, evolve their own thinking, develop new relationships, and deepen their skills.

As an Expert, you can be a Facilitator, Advisor, Role model, a Motivator, a Confidant, a Challenger and a source of inspiration. You also get an opportunity to utilize your expertise for supporting a social cause and being part of many Changemakers’ amazing journeys.

We have two types of experts – Organizational Function Experts & Domain Experts.

Organizational Function Experts who have experience in managing business and organizational functions:

• Fundraising
• Finance & Accounts
• Business Strategy
• Marketing & Beneficiary engagement
• Operations
• Data and Impact Monitoring
• Volunteer Management
• Partnerships
• Organization Strategy
• HR and Hiring

Domain Experts who have deeper expertise in the following areas of social change:

• Agriculture
• Education & Skill Building
• Livelihoods & Enterprise
• Water, Sanitation & Energy
• Financial Inclusion
• Healthcare

Changemakers will be able to have 2 sessions of 1 hour each per month with an organizational or domain expert. These sessions will be spread over a period of 3 months. These sessions will support Changemakers to improve their plans and strategies.

Each Changemaker and Expert will have an initial conversation to finalize the following before starting the engagement:

• Starting date of the mentoring engagement
• Objective(s) of the mentoring engagement
• Specific outcomes (if any) that the Changemaker wishes to achieve through the mentoring

This is an opportunity for experts to share their knowledge and experience to a group of individuals who will benefit tremendously from it and directly use it to create impact in their communities.

The experts can also benefit from the relationships with the Changemaker as they gain new insights on some of the important work that Changemakers are doing in their communities. By actively participating in a Changemaker’s journey, business experts can translate their professional experience to the social sector.

As a GAP Changemaker, one gets to engage with a professional and socially aware Expert over a short and focused duration. Although the engagement duration is short, it is important that both parties follow the program structure and general guidelines for a fruitful engagement.

We have a few general guidelines for our Experts
As an Expert to GAP Changemakers, we request you to kindly consider the following points for the mentoring sessions:

• As an Expert /Mentor to the Changemakers (CMs), we would appreciate and encourage you to be empathetic while questioning and listening to the mentee and be a confidant to them
• Motivate the Changemakers to be goal oriented
• Be a guide to the Changemakers and empower them to be in full charge of their initiative.
• Manage the framework of the mentoring sessions (frequency of meetings, timescales, action plan), while encouraging the CM to take responsibility for the content
• Help the CM see the bigger and longer term picture and help them consider different perspectives
• Share your personal experiences and examples with CMs. It might help them understand better.
• Maintain a professional and friendly relationship with the Changemaker, but also challenge him/her when appropriate.
• Maintain the confidentiality of your engagement with the Changemaker and do not let third parties assess the Changemaker’s progress.
• Finally, at GAP, our ethos of Excellence, Connection, Warmth and Empathy pervades all that we do and we would like to encourage you to adopt it wherever possible.

We also have some general guidelines for our Changemakers

As a Changemaker taking up the mentoring program, we would request you to follow few basic guidelines to be able to get the maximum from your engagement with the Experts:

• Be committed to your development and assume the responsibility for acquiring or improving skills and knowledge
• During the engagement, be honest and open about your expectations, goals, challenges and concerns
• Respect your Mentor’s/Expert’s time and resources
• Take responsibility for the agenda and initiate meetings with the Mentor
• Come to your sessions prepared with a clear idea of what topics or issues you want to address
• Actively listen and question
• Build a supportive and trusting environment and seek advice, opinion, feedback, and direction from your mentor
• Be prepared to be challenged by the mentor
• Be open to constructive criticism/feedback and ask for it
• Give feedback to your Mentor on what is working or not working in the mentoring relationship
• Apply what you learn from your sessions back on your initiative