The ShapingYou mentorship program is aimed at leveraging the diversity offered by the Brussels Shapers, in terms of professional and academic background, as well as languages spoken and life experiences, to inspire and guide teens in making more informed academic and career-related choices. 

Goals: 

The first, is to guide teens in the choice of possible careers paths they can follow by exploring with the mentor the opportunities that each path can bring, as well as some of their limitations.   

The second, is to show teens what will be the future of work trends in the coming years, in order to enable the students to explore career paths they may have not previously considered.

Impact (September 2022 - present day):

Participating Shapers: 20

Students impacted: 40 (10th and 11th graders)

Year 1

Phase 1: September 2022 - December 2022

In order to get acquainted with both the teachers hosting us and the students (10th and 11th graders), we've carried out a series of career orientation sessions in which two Shapers (1 male, 1 female) spoke for 1 hour with the students about their life experiences, previous studies, and career choices made. The students had the opportunity to get to know the Brussels Shapers hub, and 10 of its members, and figure out which Shaper would be more suitable as a mentor, which was the second phase of this project.

Phase 2: March 2023 - June 2023

We offered 1:1 mentoring sessions over Zoom between March-June in English or the mentee's main language by pairing a mentor (i.e. Shaper) working in a particular sector with a mentee that is interested in pursuing a degree related to that sector and potentially working in that field already. The matchmaking between the mentor and mentee was done via a Google form, in which all the Shaper profiles were featured (including languages spoken, experience, etc.), so that the mentees could choose. 

Participating Shapers: 10

Students impacted: 20 (10th and 11th graders)

Year 2

Phase 1: September 2023 - December 2023

In order to get acquainted with both the teachers hosting us and the students (10th and 11th graders), we've carried out a series of career orientation sessions in which two Shapers (1 male, 1 female) spoke for 1 hour with the students about their life experiences, previous studies, and career choices made. The students had the opportunity to get to know the Brussels Shapers hub, and 10 of its members, and figure out which Shaper would be more suitable as a mentor, which was the second phase of this project.

Phase 2: ongoing 

We will offer 1:1 mentoring sessions over Zoom between March-June in English or the mentee's main language by pairing a mentor (i.e. Shaper) working in a particular sector with a mentee that is interested in pursuing a degree related to that sector and potentially working in that field already. The matchmaking between the mentor and mentee was done via a Google form, in which all the Shaper profiles were featured (including languages spoken, experience, etc.), so that the mentees could choose. 

Participating Shapers: 10

Students impacted: 20 (10th and 11th graders)