Senior Mentoring Scheme 2010

SORRY! THE 2010 MENTORING SCHEME IS NOW CLOSED FOR APPLICATIONS

• Application form
• Eligibility Criteria

It doesn't take a genius to tell you that black and minority ethnic groups are currently under-represented at senior levels within the UK broadcast industry. Not a situation that anyone wants to continue, which is why Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, ITN, MTV/Viacom, Virgin Media Television, Turner, BAFTA, Skillset and PACT have come together to form the Cultural Diversity Network (CDN).

A key initiative for the CDN is this industry-wide senior mentoring scheme. Its goal is to provide the support, encouragement and guidance that talented people need to reach senior commissioning or programming positions. Specifically, the programme's been designed to focus on four areas:

• Overcoming barriers to progress
• Developing confidence
• Enhancing skills
• Looking at ways to take career, educational and professional development forward

Who's it aimed at and what are we looking for?

The scheme is open to people from the black and minority ethnic groups we've listed below. There are 25 places available nationally. You'll also need proven experience, of at least 3 years, in any area of programme making or broadcasting, not to mention the ambition to take your career to senior level.

Just as important as that though, we're looking for people with a genuine passion for broadcasting - and the talent to achieve big things. This scheme is all about supporting tomorrow's industry high-flyers to make the most of their futures.

The programme will be delivered under clause 37 of the Race Relations Act. Applications are invited from BME Individuals from the following groups: Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Other, Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, South Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, East Asian or Mixed Race.

Applicants must be eligible to work and remain resident in the UK for the duration of the scheme.

What happens on the scheme?

You'll be teamed up with one of our volunteer mentors for 12 months, starting in January 2010. Your mentor will be a senior member of the industry from one of our member organisations.

During the year, you'll meet up with your mentor a number of times to discuss where you are, where you'd like to be in your career and how you can get there. During these face-to-face meetings, your mentor will be able to guide and support you, suggesting routes you can take to develop yourself and your skills. As to exactly how the year will pan out, we can't really be any more specific than that, as each mentorship is very much an individual experience.

There will also be a number of CDN events featuring high-profile industry names - so there's a chance for you to meet and network with some key industry people.

What about funding?

This scheme is purely voluntary, so there's no specific financial support available. Those chosen for the scheme will need to ensure that they can fund their own travel to meetings and to resource their own time.

How to apply

You can click here to apply and read the Outline document for full eligibility criteria and more background on the scheme. If you've any questions, drop us an email.

Closing date for applications: 30 September 2009

Interviews will be held: 9-30 November 2009

Scheme launches: January 2010

Senior Mentoring Scheme 2009

In November 2008 the Cultural Diversity Network launched a unique black and ethnic minority senior mentoring scheme. The scheme aims to address the lack of diversity in the senior management of media organisations throughout the UK.

The new year-long initiative has won support from high profile media professionals across the sector, with the first group of mentors to sign up including Sophie Turner Laing, (Managing Director Entertainment, Sky); Krishnan Guru-Murthy (News Presenter, ITN & Channel 4); Roger Mosey (Director of Sport, BBC); Julian Bellamy (Director of Programming, Channel 4); Nicholas Wilson (Director of Children’s Programming, Five) and Nikki Cheetham MD of Cheetah.

The CDN selected individuals from black / ethnic minority backgrounds with between three and five years experience and demonstrable success in their career to date. 17 places have been allocated initially with scope to expand the scheme in future.

Each one to one mentoring relationship in the scheme will set bespoke goals tailored to the mentees needs with mentors committing to meeting regularly over a 12 month period.

Sophie Turner Laing, commented, “The intake of bright and talented people within UK broadcasting at a junior level is relatively good. But there is still a definitive lack of black and ethnic minority talent at the top of our industry. The CDN mentoring scheme will be central in helping us to address this void. It will provide a unique opportunity for the mentors to hear first hand, the challenges our first group of mentees face. The scheme will prove powerful in helping us to learn how to support and champion senior black and ethnic minority talent across the broadcast industry.”

Krishnan Guru-Murthy, ITN Presenter on Channel 4’s News at Noon says: “I'm really looking forward to mentoring Daniel and helping him negotiate the intricate workings of the television business. My generation of people from ethnic minorities have done well at getting on screen and into production but not so well at getting the positions of real power so I want to help give the next generation the confidence to reach the top.”

Daniel Bogado Krishnan’s mentee says: “I am thrilled that this opportunity has arisen as I am passionate about carving out a career for myself within broadcast. It will be great to know that I will have Krishnan as a mentor there to support me, and that I will also be able to benefit from his vast knowledge of the industry.”

The CDN is facilitating an ongoing evaluation of the scheme, with an informal six month review followed by a full appraisal at the end of the 12 month period.

The next round of the scheme will be advertised towards the end of 2009.