Toronto, ON – January 31st, 2018. As part of mentoring month, the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) is celebrating some of the stars of its renowned mentoring program.

At the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership Annual Recognition Event tonight, TRIEC will present awards to the people and organizations who went the extra mile in mentoring in the past year.

TRIEC Mentoring Partnership finds mentors for recent immigrants to Toronto, pairing them with someone who can expand their professional networks and offer guidance about how the local labour market works. In turn, the mentors learn coaching and leadership skills, and build their intercultural competencies and knowledge of international business– key skills to add to your résumé in today’s global economy.

Among the people receiving awards in 2018 is mechanical engineer Joaquin Milo. He was formerly a mentee in the program, and has now gone on to mentor more than 10 people. “Experience is the best teacher and is a gift that should be shared with others,” he says. For Joaquin, mentoring “is a way to give back to your new country.  Some of my mentees have successfully achieved interviews, job offers and their professional designation.”

Since its launch in 2004, TRIEC Mentoring Partnership has matched more than 15,000 newcomers with a mentor in their profession – and the mentors keep coming back. This year, for the first time, TRIEC will be presenting awards in a new category – for people who have mentored more than 20 times.

The event also celebrates the program’s organizational partners who have made outstanding achievements in mentoring.  Award recipients this year are Deloitte and RBC, both of whom have provided mentors for more than 500 immigrant professionals from among their staff.

For Deloitte, good things come in threes this year as two of the people who brought mentoring to the organization are also being awarded in the 10 x mentor category. As the hosts of tonight’s event, they will have many reasons to celebrate. “We are proud to be an employer partner in the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership,” says award recipient and program coordinator Daisy Vora, a Partner in Deloitte’s Risk Advisory team. “We are committed to embracing the skills and talents of new immigrants, because we know that doing so will boost our productivity, spur innovation and improve our country’s prosperity.

RBC believes diversity and inclusion is an engine for innovation and economic prosperity” says Norma Tombari, Senior Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion. “It is one of our core values and embedded in our culture. Though our participation in TRIEC Mentoring Partnership, we focus on helping people succeed, making a positive impact on our clients and in the communities where we live and work.”

TRIEC Mentoring Partnership’s participants and partners are the secret to its success. “We are immensely proud of, and grateful for, the people and organizations who drive mentoring”, says Margaret Eaton, TRIEC’s Executive Director. “Their hard work and energy allows TRIEC Mentoring Partnership to support immigrant professionals to find career success, year after year.”

75% of newcomers who receive mentoring through the program go on to find work in their field. As the number of immigrants landing in the GTA continues to increase, the commitment of mentors and organizations like this becomes more and more important.

 

About TRIEC Mentoring Partnership

TRIEC Mentoring Partnership is a collaboration of employer and community partners, and operates as a program of TRIEC. TRIEC champions the skills and talents that immigrants bring to the Greater Toronto Area.  Funding for TRIEC Mentoring Partnership is provided by the Governments of Canada and Ontario, Ontario Trillium Foundation, RBC Foundation and Manulife.

For more information on TRIEC Mentoring Partnership, please visit TRIEC.camentoringpartnership.ca or @TRIEC on Twitter. Join the conversation with our hashtag #IAmAMentor and #MentoringMonth!

 For interview requests, please contact:

Helen Davies, Senior Manager Communications, TRIEC

T: (416) 944-1946 ext. 271, e:  hdavies@triec.ca