Many industry internship programs have been cancelled this year due to the pandemic. The One Club for Creativity has transformed its Mentor & Creative program into a free, ongoing global online initiative for autumn 2020 instead.

The free program is open to individual members of The One Club and past winners of the club’s Young Ones Student Awards looking to break into the industry. The global program connects these aspiring creatives with mentors at One Club corporate member agencies around the world for six weeks. They will work on briefs, and receive one-on-one professional guidance, career advice and portfolio reviews from top agency creatives.

Mentor & Creative is a wide-ranging initiative within The One Club, run jointly by its membership and education departments to reach a diverse mix of young creatives. Registration for autumn closes September 25, 2020, with sessions running October 12 – November 20.

“The pandemic put a halt to our in-person multi-city intern & creative networking events, but not on our drive to help diverse young creatives get their foot in the door at top agencies,” stated Kevin Swanepoel, chief executive officer, The One Club. “We strongly encourage agencies to get involved because it’s a way to give back to the industry as mentors and provides them with a first look at the next generation of creative talent who they might want to hire.”

The upcoming autumn program follows on the heels of a trial run this summer, in which a diverse group of 97 young creatives, 61% female, 44% minority, 15% Black  from 13 countries, received online mentorship from 15 offices of One Club corporate members Baldwin&, Barbarian, Cactus, Edelman, MullenLowe Boston, Los Angeles and New York, Publicis Seattle, Serviceplan, Swim, TDA Boulder, Virtue,  Wieden+Kennedy New York, Work in Progress and Zambezi.

Agencies interested in providing mentorship for the Autumn can contact Justin Epstein, The One Club corporate member and chapter manager.

“How many recent grads get a foot in the door at Wieden+Kennedy?!”, stated Palak Kapadia, who went on to create the Her Street case study video with Catarina Barcala Gosende.  “I learned so much and got to create work I’m proud of.”

“I’m an international student from Malaysia and had to pass up many internship opportunities due to my visa, so being able to be a part of this program meant so much to me,” added Pei Chei Teh, who was paired with MullenLowe New York. “I’ve learned a lot from our mentors and I’m just so, so thankful to everyone.”

Valentina Orjuela, who was mentored by creatives at Baldwin&, commented, “Having six weeks to work on a cool relevant brief, collaborating with other creatives from around the world, having the guidance and feedback of amazing mentors that are working in the industry right now, and having a chance to create a new portfolio piece while having our ideas heard during these difficult times is really out of this world.”