A study by Kansas University (USA) shows that mentoring the youth or younger generation has direct benefits for both mentor and mentee.

For the mentor, the most outright benefit is the basic fulfilment from the simple act of developing meaningful relationships and having the opportunity to transmit and transfer knowledge.

For the mentee, the advantage of having an older person broaden their horizon and expose them to new experiences has proven to have a positive psycho-social impact on young people, which often reflects in the quality of their personal relationships, education and mostly in their character.

In 2017, after previous efforts had stalled, old girls from Kenya High School (popularly known as Boma) sat down and decided to volunteer their time and service to mentor Form Two and Four students, as a way of giving back and empowering the girls through a career day.

At the time, the vision was myopic and the old girls just wanted to do good and move on to the next project in support of the school and its students.

However, the impact of the Boma Career Day on the students, the school and the alumnae themselves was quite extraordinary, and since then, what started out as a passion project of the Class of 1991 has now become an annual affair drawing multiple alumnae from different corridors of the world in support of holding a Bomarian’s hand.

Out of the initial myopia was born boldness and the event has grown to include both old boys and old girls of like-minded schools.

Indeed, it is the highlight of both the school’s and the alumnae’s calendar.

As an alumna and chairperson of Kenya High School Old Girls’ Association (internally called “The Alumnae Society”), I perceive the impact of alumnae associations on future generations as very telling. 

Our observation is that the girls we mentor have elevated self-esteem and resolve, are daring enough to explore out-of-the-box career possibilities and, most of all, look up to their elder sisters to model for them the importance of education, skills acquisition, diligence and responsibility as paths to success.

We are similarly very cognizant of the Kenya Government’s pledge to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and as such The Boma Career Day intentionally plugs into SDG3, SDG4, SDG5 and SDG17.

This year, our Career Day will be themed The Evolving Workspace: Aligning Mindsets, Skills and Careers. Undoubtedly, entrepreneurs, corporates, non-profits and governments are all looking to grow and expand into the future.

The elephant in the room is: do we have the right mindsets, skills and careers, and are we teaching the relevant competencies to support futuristic and progressive organisations?

Through The Boma Career Day, we aim to spark conversations that propel the younger generation to think critically about professional spaces they would like to be in, and to enhance their decision-making ability in the career-choice process.

We have modelled this via three simple ways: a Plenary Session at which captains of industry comprising both alumnae and influential persons – like Chief Guest Joseph Mucheru, former CS Ministry of ICT will interact with Bomarians, talking about their personal journeys, challenges and lessons learnt.

We will also have a one-on-one Mentorship Session whereby alumni/ae in 18 professional career clusters – be it in arts, STEM, media, aviation or hospitality – will sit with the girls and accord them the chance to understand how different careers operate.

Finally, for the mentors, there will be a Networking Session full of banter, reminiscing and sharing of ideas, which often leads to deals, partnerships and new-found friendships. In short, mentors will leverage their networks to enhance their net worth.

— The author is a Political Science lecturer, translator and knowledge consultant