Breaking down Barriers to Apprenticeships through Mentoring!
Left-Right: Humie Webbe, Strategic Equality and Diversity Lead NTfW and Tobiloba Owolabi
It’s almost a year on since Ethnic Minority and Youth Support Team (EYST) helped to co-produce one of our first Apprenticeship Engagement Events (AEE) in May 2018 that targeted women from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) who were keen to access training and employment opportunities.
The event highlighted the various challenges that BAME women face when trying to access employment and the importance of finding suitable role community models and mentors to show what can be achieved.
We are therefore pleased to announce that NTFW’s Strategic Equality and Diversity Lead (SEDL) Humie Webbe has become a mentor on EYST’s newly launched BAME Routes to Public Life mentoring scheme which offers opportunities for individuals to gain employment skills from other BAME people in high profile public roles.
Humie has been matched with Tobiloba Owolabi who is a single mother and has struggled to find employment since coming to the UK from Nigeria over five years ago. Tobi wants to secure an apprenticeship with Welsh Government and says, ‘I feel an apprenticeship is the way to go because one of the reasons I can’t get a good job is because I have no work experience here. So if I start off as an apprentice, it’s both a way to get a foot in and also gain some experience to help me progress’
Humie is excited about her mentoring role and says ‘Being able to mentor someone and guide them on their career journey is a great honour. Tobi has the makings of becoming a great ambassador for apprenticeships!’
The mentoring project will run from February to July 2019 and includes other high profile mentors such as Vaughan Gething (AM, Cabinet Minister for Health & Social Services); Professor Emmanuel Ogbonna (Cardiff University Business School); and Tonia Antoniazzi (MP) to name a few.
EYST’s Research and Policy Officer Ginger Weigard says, “We are so lucky to have Humie on board as a mentor. She will be able to give Tobi a crash course in Welsh policy via real life interactions, complementing Tobi’s skills in public communications. As a mentor, Humie is making a great contribution to building the upcoming cohort of leaders in Wales.”
Tobi will shadow Humie at selected NTfW meetings and events and receive one to one mentoring sessions. We all wish Tobi good luck on her journey to become an apprentice!
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