TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network)

Business Buddy & Mentor

Become a business mentor & volunteer to support a refugee founder this summer.

TERN (www.wearetern.orgis now recruiting Business Buddies for our upcoming 2023 UP Collective, a summer programme to support refugee entrepreneurs explore & test their business ideas.

The UP Collective is run in collaboration with Ben & Jerry's and it supports refugees in exploring entrepreneurship as a career path, helping them develop and test their own product or service idea.

Alongside this, mentees develop broader business and life skills that they can take forward into their professional lives. Check out our UP Collective website to find out more.

The Business Buddy Role: in this role you will work on a one-to-one basis with a refugee entrepreneur, collaborating with them as they develop and test their business idea by offering your guidance and advice. 

From May to August, Business Buddies attend weekly group workshops on Tuesdays or Wednesdays (5.30 - 8:00 pm). The workshops are run both online and in person in Central London. By volunteering 3-4 hours per week, you will get the chance to share your hard-earned experience and see a tangible impact on your mentees business, skills & confidence.

This role is for you if: 

  • You are available to work in the mentoring rhythm described above
  • You are a strong mentor: you strike the right balance between support and encouragement.
  • You enjoy and are good at carrying out entrepreneurial innovation processes (in particular design thinking & lean start up methodologies)
  • You want to use your entrepreneurial skills, mindset and energy to to help another person fulfil their aspirations!

Made it this far? That's a good sign ;-) 

We have a really good time during together during the programme - and the experience of being a buddy has been very rewarding and insightful for all our previous business buddies, many of whom have joined for multiple years in a row. We look forward to meeting you!

The next step is completing this short application form and submitting a 10 minute video interview: bit.ly/business-buddy-2023

From there, you will join our programme info session & group onboarding to learn more about the role and the details of the programme.

Questions