The 2020 FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme is Launched
The 2019 Fluid Diversity Mentoring Summer Social took place at The i-Studio in London’s Hatton Garden (3 October). Despite the rain and the sudden closure of Farringdon Station on the night, mentors and mentees made their way to Ibstock’s lovely new studio which was a fantastic venue for the event. The occasion celebrated the graduation of the 2019 Fluid cohort, acknowledged and thanked the mentors for their contributions, and welcomed the 2020 cohort onto the programme.
The opening speech by Founder and Social Entrepreneur Danna Walker, thanked all participants in the programme for another successful year. “Fluid is only made possible by the generosity and willingness of our volunteer mentors, who give of their time and themselves to help others to manage successful career paths for themselves in the built environment sector.” She went on to say that she is “very proud that this initiative, which was thought at its inception in 2012 would last a year or two, is now entering its seventh year!”
The popularity of the programme was celebrated and endorsed, in presentations during the evening, by three mentees Diana Yu, Dawn Evans and Veronica Friuli, and mentor Katya Veleva.
Diana Yu has been both mentee and mentor on the Fluid programme. She said of her mentee experience that the discovery of the programme came at a critical time for her as she was struggling with the conservative culture in her office environment. She went on to explain how Fluid helped her: “Things started to turn round for me because I met Yemi who was my first Fluid mentor; she was a great source of support and we would dissect the experiences I was having so that I could understand them and process them. We talked about everything from salary negotiations to promotion (which I got in the end), to personal work experiences. More importantly, she made me realise that my reality was not necessarily everyone else’s reality.” As a result of being mentored Diana started a mentoring program in her workplace. “Now, mentoring in the office is breaking up the hierarchy, people are connecting more and building trust so there’s a sense of openness and I feel hopeful for the future and that we can address any kind of issue.”
Dawn Evans is a single mother of two and she was a student in the industry when she joined Fluid and said this of her mentoring experience: “My mentor helped me address my lack of confidence, she’s helped me leave my job in property which I needed to do, she’s helped me to write a good CV and cover letter which I didn’t have. Getting mentored for me was the best decision I’ve ever made. I didn’t have an idea of where I wanted to go but it didn’t matter that I didn’t have direction because now that I’ve finished I have a goal to do other things, rather than being stuck in a world that didn’t work for me.”
Veronica Friuli is originally from Italy and joined Fluid because she wanted to improve her BIM skills: “I asked to have a mentor who could improve my BIM skills and help me in my management role. It is very important to be clear about your needs so that you get the best match. When I met Katya for the first time, it was quite a surprise (in a very good way!). She is great and always gives me great advice anytime I need it. We meet in coffee bars and once we had a lovely Thai dinner, in a very informal and friendly restaurant and our meetings are more like a friendly chat. During our meetings topics ranged from technical questions to advice on how to handle people, because the most difficult part of the job is how to deal with people. Recently we’ve attended BIM and Construction events together and we’ve done a little bit of networking, so she has become, not only my mentor but a colleague and a friend. She is my guide and I feel free to text Katya anytime I am in doubt, to share events or general opinions. I know that we will stay in touch even after mentoring officially finishes. The experience of having this community of mentors that wants to help and give the right advice to mentees, like me, who have career goals they want to achieve, has been fantastic.”
The presentations for the evening concluded with mentor Katya Veleva who provided her mentor perspective: “Fluid for me has been just brilliant. Initially, I thought this is a ‘giving back’ experience, but realistically this process has been a huge gain for me. Obviously the professional experiences I’ve had are super clear for me and they’re very easy to talk about but actually, for other people, it’s new and helpful to hear about. When you think about it, the people who seek mentoring are always going to have this amazing drive and ambition and that just feeds back into you as well. After my first meeting with Veronica I felt so invigorated, she was so full of energy and ready to get stuff done. It kind of reminded me of the good things about my own job. You know, I’ve been doing the same thing for a while now but her excitement got me excited too! It’s a refresh. I’d encourage anyone to get involved. It’s informal but it takes you back to the things you like about your work.”