11 African mentees join LIA creative coaching programme

Eleven mentees have been chosen.

Their journey started in May and will continue through November.

This programme offers young industry professionals an opportunity to have real-time, one-to-one e-coaching with three different well-known, well-awarded and well-established industry leaders from around the world.

Coaches will share their expertise and experiences of their many years in the industry. These private and bespoke e-mentoring sessions are customised to the mentee, covering all disciplines with emphasis on skill development, elevating ideas and boosting creative confidence to fast-track careers.

Creative Liasons Virtual Mentees from Africa:

SOUTH AFRICA

• Izabel Barkhuizen, senior creative, Grid Worldwide, Cape Town
• Mikaela Elkon, art director, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg
• Tyler Lambert, creative group head, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg
• Mantwa Mahlodi Toka, senior art director, Machine, Johannesburg
• Avi Moodley, junior art director, Hoorah Digital, Cape Town
• Emma Wilson, copywriter, Ogilvy, Cape Town

GHANA 

• Alice Eshun, senior designer, Ogilvy, Accra

KENYA

• Ian Mugendi, copywriter, Belva Digital Limited, Nairobi,
• Kelvin Njoroge, art director, Belva Digital Limited, Nairobi

MAURITIUS 

• Adrien Hon Fat, graphic designer, CIRCUS! Advertising, Moka
• Alexandre Ricot, junior graphic designer, CIRCUS! Advertising, Moka

Creativity is fluid, so there are no set rules or a prescribed formula for the sessions.

Each session is customised between mentor and mentee. They are at full liberty to design how they want to conduct each session.

The end game? To hone the skills of young creatives, so they can reach their full potential and rise to greater heights.

London International Awards reveals 2024 jury for creativity in PR

15 May 2024

Laurissa Levy, creative LIAsons director/events director, said, “If you go on the internet and search how to find a mentor, you’ll find that the most frequent advice tells you to set your goals, explore who is in your network, reach out, meet up and nurture that relationship.

"But, we all know how hard it can be to achieve all of that if you are a young creative. It’s a big ask to get a busy, respected senior creative to be a mentor.

"That’s why, Creative LIAsons has established its virtual coaching programme. We match mentees with mentors from all around the globe. We aim to extend this opportunity to as many as possible, even in less represented markets.

"This virtual coaching programme began in 2021 and has become an integral part of the Creative LIAisons programme, an educational initiative to give back to the industry that supports us.”

How are mentees matched with their respective mentors?

The focus is on the mentees – to give them greater length, breadth, height and depth with these sessions. So careful consideration is given to the mentees’ requests.

While mentees were able to submit their wish list from the list of 200 mentors, there were a few additional criteria we abide by to find mentees the right fit. The rule of thumb is: that no mentee will be mentored/coached by someone in their own company, either locally or globally.

Selection process:

To be eligible for the programme, mentees have to be currently working in the industry or a related business and be between the ages of 21 and 30 years old.

LIA does not directly select mentees. It leaves the decision up to companies and agency networks that support LIA to put forward candidates. Additionally, LIA collaborates with different Ad Clubs, Associations, and Trade Press by allocating spaces to winners of creative competitions organised by them.

Laurissa Levy added some advice for the mentees, “As the e-coaching sessions are underway, I urge all mentees to make full use of this rare privilege to be part of this programme.

"Your mentors will most definitely challenge you, push you out of your comfort zone, be your confidant, cheer you on to do greater work, help you develop skills or even teach you new ones.

"But more importantly, they will coach you to aim higher and achieve those aims. It’s the start of your journey with not one, but three top creative minds.

"Enjoy the ride.”