ABCN has launched a new video sharing initiative designed to keep mentors and students connected at a time when lockdowns and cancelled programs mean they can’t meet in person.

The aim is to collect and share mentors’ personal and professional stories of resilience, adaptability and dealing with uncertainty or change. These short video stories can offer motivation and hope for the future to young people at a time when we know they are struggling with more uncertainty than ever.

We launched ABCN Connects after surveying our school partners about how we could help during the COVID-19 crisis. Eighty per cent of teachers wanted mechanisms for connecting students with mentors, including short career video messages. A strong theme that emerged from survey respondents was that business volunteers could help develop students’ skills in optimism, resilience and preparation for the future world of work.

Likewise we knew from talking to our member companies that there was a desire from volunteer mentors to continue to support isolated students, especially when those mentors might be feeling isolated themselves due to working from home.

We began to ask our network to share stories of resilience and hope for the future via candid, unscripted video messages recorded at home. We’ve been overwhelmed with support from our member companies for the initiative and are pleased to be able to share a small preview of the project here. Keep an eye out for some familiar faces, including Steven Worrall, Managing Director of Microsoft Australia and Guy Templeton, CEO of WSP Australia.

An enormous thank you to the team at Accenture for their support in the initial stages of this project, and to all our member company mentors who have contributed, and continue to contribute to ABCN Connects with their heartfelt and authentic messages of support for our student community. We are excited to be sharing these messages with our student community.

View all the ABCN Connects video stories here.