TPC has a new team member!

For every project we create, we want our belief in portfolio professionals and our community to be reflected. One way we do this is to look to our tribe to find the expertise required to support the development of The Portfolio Collective and beyond.

The new mentorship programme is no exception which is why we’re so excited to be joined by consultant, coach and trainer, Maria Evans PhD ! Maria has taken on the role as the Mentorship Programme Lead and to celebrate this next step in the journey, we wanted to find out why Maria wanted to get involved…

Why did you decide to join the team behind the Mentorship Programme?

“Lots of reasons! I became a casual member of the TPC community in early 2021 but became more engaged since the start of this year as I began to engage with the professional development opportunities available, such as Catapult and the Branding Masterclass.”

“I was already full of respect for the professional values of the organisation but TPC matches that with a very welcoming human side: you really do feel like you’re part of a community.”

“I love the freedom that working for yourself offers but I do really miss the team-working element. To have the opportunity to join the team for two days a week feels like a dream come true!”

That’s wonderful to hear! What excites you most about the programme?

“Firstly, being able to work with a variety of expert mentors to distil the essence of the highest quality business mentoring, and finding ways of sharing that with the course participants in the most meaningful and engaging way.”

“I think the programme has such potential to be a really leading edge initiative. There’s so little written about effective business mentoring for startups, let alone offered in practical terms, so I think the prospect for all of us – leaders and participants – of knowing we’re part of something new and vital is incredibly exciting.”

It really does feel so on the edge of something new. What do you hope the programme will achieve?

“I hope it will raise awareness generally of the enormous value of mentoring. I hope it will create an ever growing pool of highly qualified business mentors who are able to meet the demand for support from startups. ”

“I also really hope it will diversify both the pool of mentors and those who get support. In particular, I hope to see more female mentors and female startups – I can’t help thinking that the two go hand in hand. If the programme achieves all of those then I will be exceedingly happy and proud!”

Thanks so much, Maria for answering our questions – we can’t wait to see where this takes the community!

To find out more about Maria and the mentorship programme, visit: http://staging.the-portfolio-collective.com/mentorship-programme/

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