Why Black girls and Black women?
In this month’s blog, we explore more about why The Catalyst model is designed to focus specifically on the experiences of Black women and Black girls. I know I can be a confident Black girl in the future. It all starts now.’ – Catalyst Mentee, Cohort 2021-22 These are the words of a mentee who will be starting our programme in September, and we think she perfectly encapsulates what we want to achieve. The Catalyst Collective matches Black women with Black girls for meaningful mentoring relationships. But, we are often asked, why does our programme focus specifically on Black women and girls? A lack of emphasis on the specific needs of young Black women often leads to grouping students together in a way that masks significant differences in key outcomes. We know that young Black people as a whole experience some disparities compared to young people from other ethnic groups. For example, Black students have the highest university non-completion rates, and are the least likely to be awarded a 1st class or 2:1 degree classification. Whether our mentees want to go to university, do an apprenticeship or take another path, our programme strives to support their attainment in secondary school and beyond. Mentoring encourages the girls to have high aspirations, and helps them to achieve their goals, step by step. Even within the demographic of young Black people, Black girls have a considerably different lived experience to Black boys. For example, despite the fact that Black girls are more likely to progress to higher education than Black boys, Black women are half as likely as Black men to become professors. In educational and professional spaces, Black women are frequently underrepresented. Therefore, there is a significant lack of positive Black female representation in the lives of most Black female school students. In our pilot cohort, 100% of mentees said that it was important to them to have a mentor that they could identify with, and 100% said they were unlikely, or very unlikely to have had a mentor this year without being offered one through The Catalyst Collective. We recognise the specific experiences of Black women, often facing the ‘double disadvantage’ of racism and sexism. Yet, our mentees are aspirational, with many striving to enter fields where few Black women have gone before. The impact of our mentees having role models that they can identify with is immeasurable. One of our upcoming mentees believes she would really benefit from having a mentor to remind her ‘that being a Black woman going into a male-dominated field isn’t impossible.’ This is why we deliver a powerful and tailored intervention to young Black women through our mentoring programme.
What a difference a year makes: Celebrating our first cohort!
This August we brought our first ever cohort to a close. Here, we share a video of our brilliant End of Year event, and Amara – our Summer Programme Intern – shares more about the event. Videography by Melissa Morgan Our end of year celebration was the first time that many of our mentoring pairs met in person for the first time, and it was the perfect way to draw our first cohort’s journey to a close. For Ernesta, one of our mentees, the event was a chance “to bond with other mentors and mentees and celebrate the journey that we have all been on.” With balloons hung and food on the table, the scene was set for what turned out to be a magical evening! In between games, mentors and mentees shared about the difference that mentoring had made to their lives. Girls who had previously shied away from public speaking were now expressing their thoughts confidently, sharing the clarity they’d developed on their career path, and the personal growth they attributed to mentoring. Our mentors too had learnt a lot, explaining how inspired they were by their mentees’ character and drive, and how they had really enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of their mentees’ journeys. A few happy tears were shed! The mentoring pairs soon grabbed some props, ready to take polaroid pictures at our makeshift photo booth. As creative and eager as ever, the mentees began to use the photo frames and stickers from their goody bags to decorate their new polaroids, and the mentors soon followed, creating another opportunity for them to bond. “I don’t think there could have been a better event for us to meet our mentors. Everyone had fun and felt comfortable.” – Caitlyn, Mentee 2020-21 We are very grateful to our first cohort for their enthusiastic approach to mentoring, and for how they have shaped The Catalyst over the past 8 months. We also appreciate everyone who contributed to this celebration, from hosting us to doing videography. Thank you all for making the end of year celebration such a fantastic event. Words by Amara Agwo
What makes the Catalyst a Collective?
This month, we explores further what it mean when we call the Catalyst a Collective. At the Catalyst, we believe our mentors are the foundation of the Collective. Carefully selected from a range of careers, interests and backgrounds, they are all passionate about uplifting the next generation of Black women. On our part, we provide them with as much support as possible through training, and regular check-ins with their mentor coordinator and the wider network. In turn, our mentors go above and beyond to contribute to our growing community. Next year as our programme continues to grow exponentially, we look forward to mentors taking on roles within the Catalyst Collective, supporting us in programme development, communications, event planning and organisational development. We also reach out to members of the wider community to give career talks and further guidance to our mentees. But it’s not just the adults that contribute to the Collective. What we do wouldn’t be possible without our expanding network of inspiring and dedicated mentees. We partner with local schools, recruiting, training and supporting our mentees in small cohorts. This model enabling us to ensure that each girl feels fully equipped to be part of the mentoring programme. We also know it’s always better to do things in community, and so we work to create a culture of wellbeing and mutual encouragement within each cohort. At the Catalyst, each mentee helps enrich the collective for the next generation. In our first year, our mentees have been integral to the development of our programme. From speaking to new partner schools about their experiences, to sharing their feedback with us to shape programme design, we are so grateful to them for being part of our community. Our current mentees will also be taking a lead in future mentee recruitment and training, as well as lending their voices to our Youth Advisory Board when it launches this Autumn. And naturally, we would love for them to come back as mentors in the future! We are truly a Collective, and we cannot exist without the contributions of every member of our community. As the Catalyst Collective grows, we are always eager to hear from you. We hope you’ll consider joining us as we build this community together. Words by Amara Agwo
