Empowering the Next Generation of Young Women & Non-Binary Investment Professionals
with Laura Jones, Paige Taylor, and Brooke Johnson
Mentoring Programme Team
GAIN UK
Mentorloop Impact Award Winner 2024
"We're very proud that at the end of 2023, 63% of the interns who have graduated from university and had taken part in our internship programme, including the mentoring components supported by Mentorloop, were offered a subsequent internship or full-time position in the investment management industry."
The Challenge: Managing Growth and Complexity
GAIN stands for Girls Are INvestors. We are a charity whose mission is to inspire and empower the next generation of women and non-binary investment professionals by providing a platform for learning, career development, and networking.
At GAIN, we run an annual internship programme, which includes a mentoring component where we introduce professionals in the investment management industry to students completing an investment management internship.
In the past, we would introduce mentors and mentees via email, which was incredibly time-consuming. It was also difficult for us to monitor how the mentoring was progressing, as there was no way of knowing if the mentor and mentee had contacted one another or tracking how they were enjoying their meetings. As our internship programme grew to over 100 interns, we needed a more efficient way of managing the mentoring component but didn’t want to adopt a system that would see us lose our personal touch.
Mentorloop has allowed GAIN to efficiently introduce mentors and mentees to one another via an online platform, use reporting to check who has spoken to one another and, if the meetings are going well, give mentors and mentees the opportunity to talk to us in a private chat if any issues need resolving, and has enhanced the mentoring experience overall for mentors and mentees with the introduction of a professional platform.
The Impact: Mentoring Success at GAIN
We’re very proud that at the end of 2023, 63% of the interns who have graduated from university and had taken part in our internship programme, including the mentoring components supported by Mentorloop, were offered a subsequent internship or full-time position in the investment management industry.
While gender diversity is at the heart of GAIN’s mission, promoting the diversity of our community overall is of great importance. We have mentors reaching out, requesting to mentor individuals from a similar socio-economic background to show their mentees that there’s a place for them in the industry – “If you can’t see them, you can’t be them.”
In terms of feedback from our community who are participants of our current mentoring programme, we have achieved a Mentorloop Quality Score of 4.6 out of five, which is calculated from meeting ratings, feedback surveys and activity on Mentorloop.
Ensuring Equal Access and Opportunity
GAIN’s programmes are open to girls, young women and non-binary people across the UK, from all backgrounds. All of our programme participants are allocated a mentor. This year, over 80% of our interns are from ethnic minority backgrounds and over 60% studied at a state school or an independent school on a Bursary Mentorloop has helped us bring mentors and mentees together regardless of location.
Most of our students and mentors are in London, but we are continuously extending our reach to other cities across the UK committed to providing opportunities for all. Whilst we do consider a location where matching mentors and mentors so they can meet up in person if they like, we also have mentors in other countries America and Australia, eager to share their experience with one of our students, and Mentorloop has made this easy to facilitate.
Future Plans: Expanding the Mentoring Program
In terms of how we will use the Mentorloop platform in the future, we plan to make use of the Group Mentoring functionality for the first time, and we’ll also supplement the recommended reading section in Mentorloop with our own resources to emphasise the benefits of mentoring for the investment management industry and the importance of building a network.
As a student, we’ll be using the meeting ratings and feedback on Mentorloop to help us identify who our stand out mentors are for our new ‘Mentor of the Year’ award in terms of mentoring programme growth.
As our programmes grow, so will our mentoring programme. This year we’ve had the support of 300 mentors across the investment management industry and these volunteers have offered their time to 700 girls, women and non-binary students across high school, college and university.
By 2029 we plan to have 2000 students on our programmes, all receiving mentoring via the mentoring platform.
Creating a Lasting Mentoring Culture
GAIN will be five years old this autumn and we’ve reached a stage where our GAIN alumni who had a mentor during their internship have secured full-time roles in the investment management industry and are continuing their GAIN journey as they progress into their career by returning to us to mentor the next generation of investment management professionals.
For us, this is proof that our Mentorloop mentoring programme is offering invaluable support, encouraging women and non-binary people into investment management.
Brooke, Laura & Paige
Mentoring Programme Team at Gain UK
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Whilst we do consider location when matching mentees and mentors, so they can meet up in person if they like, we also have mentors in other countries like USA and Australia, eager to share their experience with some of our students and Mentorloop has made this easy to facilitate.
– Paige Taylor, Mentoring Programme Manager at GAIN UK
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