Jonathan Freeman

In my role as Managing Director of Mosaic, a charity committed to improving the future of young people living in deprived areas in the UK and internationally, I am always extremely grateful to the many people who volunteer their time to help us towards achieving our mission.

Quite simply, without the generosity and support of our network of mentors, we would not be able to progress our important work. With mentors at the heart of our success, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the brilliant work of our recent ‘Mentor Hero of the month’ Brooke Greville.

Mosaic has several programmes operating across primary and secondary schools, prisons, as well as internationally. We are now approaching one of the most exciting events in our calendar — our annual Enterprise Challenge competition.

Launched during Global Entrepreneurship Week with James Caan CBE and other leading entrepreneurs in November last year, the competition aims to foster and promote entrepreneurial skills amongst pupils in secondary schools across England.

Last year, nearly 4,000 students from over 100 schools took part and after a series of regional and national finals, the overall winner was a team from Skinners’ Academy in Hackney, North East London.

The mentor of the winning team was Brooke Greville, Chief Executive of XineX, an investment company in technology, sport and equestrian-related ventures.

Looking back at the event, Brooke said, “The success of Skinners’ Academy was the highlight of a very busy business year for me personally. I have come to really care for the school and I am confident that this year’s team will fight hard to defend their title.”

Brooke decided to become a Mosaic mentor in 2013 after being introduced to the charity by Uzair Bawany, a Mosaic board member. With a demanding job, Brooke saw mentoring as a great opportunity to inspire young people and help them work towards building successful careers. “It is exceptionally rewarding to be a mentor and to make a difference to young peoples’ lives,” he said.

As for his advice for any current or prospective mentors, Brooke said, “It is important for students to feel that the mentor is really committed; it makes them more likely to commit to attending every session. With a demanding job, it is difficult to find the time every week, but it’s very important.” For me, one of the areas of my role I most enjoy is watching the relationship develop between our mentors and the mentees. It can initially be a daunting experience for both sides: for the mentees, it may be the first time they have seriously considered their futures and what they could achieve, and for the mentors, leaving the office and returning to the classroom can feel just as challenging. The feedback I often receive from our mentors is not only do they feel a sense of achievement from developing and helping their mentees towards a positive future, they also feel equally inspired by the relationship as they return to their normal jobs with a fresh perspective on their work and lives. The success of the Skinners’ Academy team with Brooke’s mentorship is exactly why we run the Enterprise Challenge; to celebrate the outstanding achievements young people in underprivileged areas are capable of achieving with the dedicated support of our mentors. I am very excited to see what the students have in store for us this year, and I hope you will join as a mentor in next year’s competition.

Jonathan Freeman is Managing Director of Mosaic

For more information on becoming a Mosaic mentor, please call 020 7566 8734, visitwww.mosaicnetwork.co.uk or email mosaic@bitc.org.uk. 

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Jonathan Freeman

July 16, 2015: As usual, it’s been a very busy end to the Mosaic calendar year and the last month or so has been dominated by annual end-of-year celebration events in each region. It has been such a huge pleasure to see almost 400 guests across events in each of the five regions in which we currently work come together to celebrate the achievements they have delivered.

In particular, these events have seen some great presentations and performances from the young people we support, talking powerfully and passionately about the help that their mentors have given to them. We have also crowned the winning regional mentors of the year at these events, recognising the amazing lengths that our volunteers have gone to over the last year to help young people on our programmes. We have seen some truly inspirational mentors achieving simply stunning results in their own communities.

I can safely say that Mosaic has had its best year ever, delivering more help to more young people thanks to our largest ever number of volunteer  mentors. A big part of this has been thanks to the fantastic support provided by a range of new supporters, such as our new partners at The People’s Postcode Lottery.

There has been so much to celebrate across all of our programmes. Whilst we tend to remember some of the high-profile events we organise – such as our primary school graduation events, celebration events or World of Work visits – the highlights for me have been the opportunities I have had to talk directly to young people about how the support of their mentors has opened doors to them that they thought were closed. I recently spoke with a small group of secondary school students at one of our London schools who have been participating in our group mentoring programme. They talked passionately about how they had been on some amazing visits to Buckingham Palace and Canary Wharf as part of their programme, which had really opened their eyes. The thing that had the greatest impact on them though was how they’d never had the opportunity to meet successful individuals like their mentors before, people who had taken the time to help them understand how they can and should achieve the very best in life regardless of the barriers in front of them.

A wide variety of inspirational keynote speakers spoke at our end-of-year celebration events, ranging from property entrepreneur Tom Bloxham MBE and Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council to Olympic medal-winning para-athlete Eleni Papadopoulos and Steve Ronald, Chairman of Trustees for the Heathrow Community Fund and Head of Product at British Airways.

Many of our corporate supporters and partners hosted these events and the primary school programme graduations, including Heathrow Academy,  LendLease, Leeds Town Hall, Manchester Metropolitan University, Birmingham University, Royal Holloway University, Leeds Trinity University, the House of Lords and the offices of KPMG; A startling range of venues perfect for honouring the achievements of mentees and mentors alike.

As this business year ends for Mosaic, we find ourselves in planning mode for the next academic year and we have some ambitious plans in the pipeline. I am really excited about working with our Board, Regional Leadership Groups and the Mosaic staff team to finalise the plans for a bumper year in 2015/16. We are also looking to recruit more mentors than ever before so that the impact in our communities is even greater. The great thing about Mosaic is we never rest on our laurels and are always looking to do more and to do it better.

As we continue to build links with corporate mentors, the shining example of Maz Majid springs to mind. Maz is Vice Chairman of Mosaic’s London and South East Regional Leadership Group, but his day job is Head of GM Merchandising Operation at Marks and Spencer, where he plays a pivotal role in ensuring delivery of the Marks and Spencer strategic vision and managing day-to-day operations. During the first Gulf War, Maz attained the support of UK retailers to assist families whose loved ones were held as human shields in Iraq.

When Maz first became a mentor with Mosaic around five years ago, little did we know what an impact he would have on our organisation. In the time since, Maz has enlisted the support of over 100 colleagues from Marks and Spencer who generously give their time and knowledge as Mosaic mentors. This is a great example of how from just one individual getting involved, corporate support can really help to elevate mentoring to the next level. I would urge other like-minded individuals to do the same and spread the word in order to maximise the impact.

At our International Leadership Programme Summit held in Jordan earlier this year, I had the opportunity to hear from an amazing man called Mustafa Salameh, who is the first ever Jordanian to climb Mount Everest.  His personal mantra is “Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of times your breath is taken away.” These wise words from a man who had achieved so much despite having come from a very poor and tough background, had real resonance for me and could easily be applied to the work of Mosaic.

I’m certainly looking forward to what the next year will bring for Mosaic and I’m looking forward to working with new and existing mentors to make Mosaic’s ninth year of operation the strongest and most successful yet.

We’re already building up momentum for the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge 2015/2016.

Jonathan Freeman is Managing Director of HRH The Prince of Wales’s charitable mentoring initiative Mosaic

Also Read:

Skinners’ Academy wins Enterprise Challenge 2015

Counting on corporate support

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Jonathan Freeman

June 19, 2015: One of the flagship events in the Mosaic calendar is without doubt the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge Grand Final. After months of preparations, regional heats and tireless work from mentors, students and staff, we made it to the Grand Final. Held at the offices of one of our many supporting partners, international law firm Hogan Lovells LLP, this year’s Enterprise Challenge Grand Final did not disappoint and was the strongest and most competitive in the seven-year history of the competition.

The winning team with Claude Littner from The Apprentice

For those who don’t know the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge, generously supported by the Apax Foundation and Nectar Trust, it is a fully immersive, business-basedannual competition for secondary school students across the UK, designed to develop and encourage their entrepreneurial skills. At the heart of the Challenge is the business simulation model developed by Totem Learning.

This year’s Challenge was nothing short of exceptional. It brought out the best in the UK’s young business brains ably supported and encouraged every step of the way by their enthusiastic mentors.I never fail to be amazed by the standard, which just seems to improve year on year, and having had close dealings with the judging panel for 2015, chaired by the formidable Claude Littner from The Apprentice, they were not only astounded by the quality of the pitches but also the confidence on display and the brilliant business ideas put forward by these ambitious youngsters.

Five schools each proudly representing a different area of the country pitched their hearts out in front of a capacity crowd. It’s impossible not to be impressed by the confidence on show from the students, some as young as 14. And it got me thinking about why initiatives such as this are so important in helping to nurture business talent and giving young people the opportunity to shine.

An experience such as the Enterprise Challenge is one which truly engages the student, helps them to think from a business perspective and to develop, so that when they do step out into the big wide world they are not completely thrown by the tasks they are being asked to perform.

The4,000 students who participated (not just the ones taking part in the Grand Final itself) have been through an incredible process involving pitching, idea generation, elimination or getting through to the next round. Experiencing success and failure. This cements the idea that business is tough and can be competitive, presenting situations where they have to do their best, reveal their personalities and put their grey matter to the test.

Mentoring is crucial in this process. Having a skilled mentor, someone with only the mentee’s best interests at heart, is massively valuable. It’s also a two-way process – the mentor through engaging with young people and understanding them, can derive a great deal of personal satisfaction and the mentee benefits from sharing the thoughts of someone with experience in a particular field or just life and business in general. Done in the correct way, mentoring is greatly beneficial to both parties.

The real skill of a good mentor comes in understanding where the mentee is coming from, why they’ve gained a particular view of life, business or people. The mentor’s role is undeniably a difficult one and this is why picking the right one is so crucial. A mentor must be skilful, knowledgeable and have experience in equal measure but in addition to this, must also know how to relay that experience so that it registers.

This year’s Enterprise Challenge Grand Final was won by Skinners’ Academy in Hackney. Their winning business concept was ‘iRoundUp’, an ingenious yet simple system whereby students can volunteer to donate spare change to a nominated charity from electronic currency stored on their ParentPay school identity cards. The cards enable parents to pay for school meals and trips via online transactions. The students are already in talks with ParentPayto introduce the scheme in thousands of schools already using the system around the UK. We are all waiting to see what happens with this hugely exciting opportunity, which shows just how well the mentoring process can work if delivered properly.

We’re already building up momentum for the Enterprise Challenge 2015/2016. If you would like to help inspire and guide young adults to help them reach their potential and would like further information about mentoring or any of the Mosaic programmes, please call 020 7566 8734 or email: mosaic@bitc.org.uk

Jonathan Freeman is Managing Director of HRH The Prince of Wales’s charitable mentoring initiative Mosaic

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The post Skinners’ Academy wins Enterprise Challenge 2015 appeared first on International Finance.

Jonathan Freeman

April 21, 2015: The Mosaic Enterprise Challenge, generously supported by the Apax Foundation and Nectar Trust, is a fully immersive, business-based annual competition for secondary school students across the UK, designed to develop and encourage their entrepreneurial skills. This year’s challenge has brought out the best in the UK’s young business brains ably supported and encouraged every step of the way by their enthusiastic mentors. The standard every year never ceases to astound the judging panels and 2015 has seen the highest calibre of pitches and concepts so far. I think we can safely say that the bar has been raised to new heights in 2015.

The format is straightforward. Teams of students work with a mentor from their local business community to learn about becoming future business leaders, play an interactive simulation game and come up with first class business ideas that would give the contestants of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den a run for their money!

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been privileged to witness some real bright young things giving it their all in the Enterprise Challenge regional finals. This not only instils confidence in me about tomorrow’s business leaders but also a sense of pride. We’ve had everything from a baking business that helps internal catering students gain invaluable practical skills whilst also meeting the needs of their school community to a smart system whereby students volunteer to donate spare change from their electronic currency via their school ID cards.

It was fitting that this year’s Enterprise Challenge was launched during Global Entrepreneurship Week. As the world’s largest campaign promoting entrepreneurship, it plays a significant role in encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs to consider starting up their own business. Mosaic’s Enterprise Challenge shares similar goals and objectives and Global Entrepreneurship Week provided the perfect launchpad for this year’s Challenge.

Since launching this year’s competition, Mosaic has delivered the Enterprise Challenge to 100 schools, involving 4,000 students and supported by a network of 400 dedicated mentors. This was carried out across five key regions of the UK, including London, the South East, West Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire. The five highest scoring schools in each region are then invited to compete in the regional finals throughout March.

The five winning schools this year demonstrated real business acumen, a quality that each of the five esteemed judging panels was looking for. The finalists who go on to proudly represent their regions, are:

London: Skinners Academy from Hackney; North West: Ladybridge High School in Bolton; South East: Langley Academy from Langley in Berkshire; West Midlands: Harborne Academy, Birmingham, and Yorkshire: Spen Valley High School from Liversedge, West Yorkshire.

The Grand Finals take place on April 23, 2015 in London and the winner will receive a superb package which includes £2,500 for their school (£500 of which is for the students to invest in their business idea) together with an unforgettable afternoon with their mentor and a teacher in London in the company of some of the most talented and inspirational figures in British business.

The event — which is also part of Responsible Business Week 2015, a high-profile awareness week, run by Business in the Community — is hosted at the London offices of international law firm Hogan Lovells LLP in London. Responsible Business Week aims to demonstrate the ways in which business can work together with other organisations to deliver a fairer society and more sustainable future

The event will be compered by TV personality and popular broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky and the judging panel of inspirational entrepreneurs chaired by Claude Littner from The Apprentice.

Mosaic Apax Enterprise Challenge National Final 2014

Last year’s Enterprise Challenge Grand Final was won by St Bede’s Catholic Grammar School in Bradford, West Yorkshire so the pressure is on the students from Spen Valley High School to help Yorkshire retain the title for 2015.Most importantly however, the winning school is supported by Mosaic to develop and launch their business idea with their prize money. We wish all our finalists and their mentors the best of luck for the Grand Final and, as we reach the business end of Enterprise Challenge 2015, our attention turns to the search for outstanding contestants for next year, made possible thanks to the support and guidance of our mentors.

If you would like to help inspire and guide these young adults to help them reach their potential and would like further information about mentoring or any of the Mosaic programmes, please call 020 7566 8734, visit www.mosaicnetwork.co.uk  or email: mosaic@bitc.org.uk

Jonathan Freeman is Managing Director of HRH The Prince of Wales’s charitable mentoring initiative Mosaic (www.mosaicnetwork.co.uk) 

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