Mentorship: AMA Toronto and Scotiabank partnership empowers leadership and supports our community
Accomplished leaders share a common trait; they build and maintain the support of mentors, coaches, and advocates to help them every step of the way. AMA Toronto’s mentorship programs are among the largest and most established in North America. AMA Toronto’s Mentor Exchange and Career Accelerator programs have benefited hundreds of mentees earning the association recognition as an industry leader and attracting participation from global companies like Scotiabank.
The partnership between AMA Toronto and Scotiabank underscores a shared belief in the importance of learning from each other at all levels through mentorship.
“Scotiabank’s sponsorship of AMA Toronto’s mentorship programs reinforces our commitment to supporting professionals in the marketing industry through mentorship,” said Laura Curtis Ferrera, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Scotiabank. “In December 2018, we launched The Scotiabank Women Initiative, a comprehensive program designed to help advance women-led businesses through Access to Capital, Mentorship, and Education. A key element of the initiative is mentorship which reaffirms the belief in its importance and a key component of success. Through its Advisory Board, The Scotiabank Women Initiative helps women grow their business through facilitated mentorship sessions with an opportunity to interact with senior leaders, and other women in the program, to benefit from peer-to-peer business mentoring to help shape their futures.”
Helping local communities together
The partnership between Scotiabank and AMA Toronto is a collaboration aligned around empowering leadership. The AMA Toronto Mentor Exchange and Career Accelerator programs are successful because they provide support to marketing professionals at different stages in their careers.
The programs underscore the value of mentorship at both early and later stages of career development. Mentorship, particularly for professionals in career transition or new to Canada, helps mentees to find clarity of purpose and to be challenged to excel further.
“The Mentor Exchange program, now in its eleventh year, has over 500 mentee alumni and has engaged hundreds of senior-level mentors over the years,” says Craig Lund, VP of Mentorship, AMA Toronto. “In fact, there are several examples of mentees from some of the early cohorts of the program who are now at the senior executive level and give back by now being the mentor themselves.”
Peer-to-peer networking
AMA Toronto’s Mentor Exchange was founded in 2008. It is run in partnership with the Schulich Executive Education Centre, pairing 50 exceptional mid-career marketing and business executives with 50 industry veterans for a nine-month period.
The pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson that resilient business models demonstrate the ability to respond effectively to changing and challenging conditions.
The role of learning and investing in one’s own professional development through learning platforms or mentorship is increasingly important and will remain equally valuable post-pandemic.
“As Canadian businesses and specifically marketing communities demonstrated high levels of mutual support during the pandemic, our shared goal is to continue manifesting Canada’s inclusiveness,” says Craig Lund, VP of Mentorship, AMA Toronto. “This is why Scotiabank’s partnership with AMA Toronto is both timely and utterly important. Although collaborating among businesses and serving customers remains imperative, it is vital to engage mentees in uncertain times. This will help to retain high-potential talent and ensure effective and lasting succession planning.”
Professional associations such as AMA Toronto and not-for-profit communities of volunteers must encourage peer-to-peer activities, promoting career strengths exploration. In the long-term, an economy’s health can be measured in terms of productivity gains, entrepreneurship, and high-tech innovation. This is why, as we are finally getting closer to recovery, businesses should focus on investing in workplace inclusivity and mentorship.
****
About Scotiabank:
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: “for every future”, we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products, and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as at January 31, 2021 ), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
About AMA Toronto:
The Toronto Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA Toronto) is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organization that has empowered business growth and leadership within its community for more than 70 years. AMA Toronto provides opportunities to build professional connections, develop leadership, and accelerate professional knowledge and growth. With more than 20,000 members and 70 chapters across North America, the AMA is the largest marketing association in the world.
