Mentor Makers | The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center

Introducing Mentor Makers

A free mentor matching platform to ignite the exchange of knowledge and experience from business leaders in support of entrepreneurs of all backgrounds.

Become a Mentor

Find a Mentor

Mentor Makers is a movement to inspire and engage entrepreneurs across all industries, geographies, and backgrounds with the time and experience of industry experts. Through ongoing community networking, a variety of on-demand and live resources, we vouch to connect you with the inspiration and the tools you need to find or become game-changing mentors for entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs are the dreamers, doers, visionaries who are not only solving problems our community and world is facing today, but those that will create a better future for us all. Mentorship matters to all entrepreneurs; their success is dependent on it.

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, along with our partner MentorCloud, feel strongly there is more to be done to support ALL business owners as they navigate the current business environment and build from survivability towards recovery and opportunity. Industries, markets, technology, customers are rapidly changing around them at a faster pace than ever before. The one constant in business, both current and future state, is that entrepreneurs are the leaders making something out of nothing and hiring talent at rates exceeding any other industry. Entrepreneurs need the support of mentorship for their benefit and for ours.

Join the Mentor Makers movement and, together, we will build the greatest exchange of knowledge and expertise in service to entrepreneurs in business today.

Mentor Makers Code of Conduct

The Opportunity

With extreme challenges business owners are facing due to the ongoing pandemic, the Small Business Association predicts in the next two months 24% of small businesses will close.

63% of business owners do not have professional guidance at the onset of their business. Yet, 92% of small business owners agree that mentors have a direct impact on their business (Forbes).

How do I find or become a mentor?

Join us in empowering everyday entrepreneurs with timely mentorship.

Join as a Mentor

Join as a Mentee

Testimonials

“I have a thirst for identifying problems and crafting solutions. Coupled with my obsession for good design, I activate when I can share in the delights of others’ passions and vision. Being a leader requires the student’s mindset and I couldn’t think of a better way to grow through my own mentorship journey through Mentor Makers.”

Melina Jones, Entrepreneur

“Mentor Makers is an incredible gift for all of those entrepreneurs who are looking for advice and support from experienced professionals no matter the stage of their business. Mentor Makers makes it simple to find the perfect Mentor at no charge to either party. This is indeed a game-changer for all parties.”

Rosemary Breehl, Mentor

“What could be better than an experienced entrepreneur shortening your learning curve?

When time is money this is a million dollar value.”

Scott Lamphere, Mentor

“The Mentor Maker’s program has been mind-blowing. The Mentors encourage to make decisions that promote us towards our visions, our goals. Absolutely transformational!”

TaJuana Taylor, Entrepreneur

“The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center clearly sees the future better than many organisations by creating the Mentor Makers programme, which encourages a give/take learning environment whilst creating a global community of leaders.

It was very refreshing to witness your humility and genuine interest/concern in my development, and I shall be seeking more sessions in the future.”

Abdullah Jasem, Entrepreneur

“The mentors share profound insights that resonate deeply because they have been there before. I find myself taking a lot of notes and reflecting later on their nuggets of wisdom.

My startup is in a better place because of this community. And the impact is lasting. One of the mentors I met on the platform has joined my startup’s advisory panel. I am truly grateful for the extraordinary network of mentors you have built and hope more entrepreneurs will take advantage of this fantastic resource. Thank you so much for what you are doing.”

John Tilak, Entrepreneur

Our Approach:

Mentor Makers is a movement to inspire, source and train new mentors. We are building the first-ever exchange of intellectual capital and knowledge in support of entrepreneurs. Our approach is four parts:

ENDORSE

Great mentorship for founders deserves to be acknowledged and shared

Great mentorship deserves to be acknowledged – and finding those entrepreneurs and founders who COULD be great mentors is a high priority.

This is an opportunity to identify great mentors from all backgrounds – particularly Black and brown leaders and others communities who have been traditionally underestimated or underrepresented – and create a system where individuals can nominate great leaders, colleagues, people they look up to in their communities, in their families, and invite them to join our Mentor Makers movement.

INSPIRE

Virtual (and free) events focused on mentorship best practices

When you are a part of the Mentor Makers community, you are invited to participate in a series of intimate community networking events and virtual events with high profile, inspirational leaders. Topics are focused on strategies and tips for how to be the best mentor you can be and inspiring stories from those that have received mentorship in the past.

As with all events at the Center, attendance is free and sessions are interactive, practical and inspirational. Be on the lookout for invitations for the more intimate gatherings once you are on the Mentor Makers platform.

ASSESS

An evaluation system to measure the value of mentorship

Mentorship is often mistakenly considered a soft, auxiliary benefit to building a successful business even though every successful entrepreneur attributes their success to having great mentors. Human interactions can be difficult to measure and existing mentorship studies are not robust enough to measure the true value and impact of mentors. We are developing a monitoring and evaluation system to longitudinally measure the tangible value of mentorship.