Why Kellogg students created a high school mentoring program

Written by:
Kellogg
4 minute read

This fall, a team of Kellogg students launched Kellogg Connections, a mentoring program for Evanston Township High School (ETHS) students. The program has three main objectives:

  • BUILD
    Help students build skills that are critical to success in college, in the business world and beyond
  • PREPARE.
    Prepare students to thrive in new environments, including college and the workplace
  • CONNECT.
    Connect students with people and organizations that will help them explore and develop their passions and aspirations

Kellogg Connections will involve a diverse group of approximately 15 ETHS students and roughly the same number of Kellogg mentors from a variety of professional backgrounds including medicine, consulting, banking, marketing and manufacturing. Mentors will meet with students as an entire group two times per month. The key tenets of the program are a business-focused curriculum, college prep, experiential learning and community partnership.

The business-focused curriculum will be shaped by each mentor in the program and will involve interactive lessons on topics such as marketing, finance, teamwork and entrepreneurship. Part of our work will also involve helping students explore their options for college and how to put themselves in the best position to attend their top choice schools.

The experiential learning component includes field trips to Deloitte Consulting and 1871. Additionally, students will partner with local Evanston businesses such as Fitness Matrix, where students will engage in a pro-bono consulting effort. Underlying these main tenets of the program is the power of one-on-one long-term mentoring that each student in the program will receive from their Kellogg mentor.

Kellogg students commit to serve as mentors in the program for at least one year, and they make this decision for a variety of reasons.

“I’ve been fortunate enough over the past few years to work as a mentor for a few organizations, and have truly loved the experience,” said Erika Nuno, a first-year student in the Full-Time Two-Year MBA Program who has a background in commercial banking. “I’ve had great mentors throughout my life and see this as a way to continue paying it forward. This is a great opportunity for me to get involved in something I really enjoy while at Kellogg.”

Last year, Kellogg launched its first annual high school business case competition. During the competition, Kellogg students had the pleasure of meeting a talented, motivated team of ETHS students who were excited about their top-three finish at the competition. Seeing the potential for a more consistent partnership, Kellogg and Darlene Gordon, a teacher at ETHS, came together to brainstorm the foundation of Kellogg Connections. Kristen Perkins, Northwestern University / ETHS Partnership Coordinator, was also instrumental in providing guidance and injecting insight throughout the development of the new program.

At Kellogg, we are learning to inspire growth in a variety of ways. One of those ways is by inspiring growth in people. By sharing our Kellogg and professional experience and networks with ETHS students, we are inspiring growth in the next generation of leaders.

Martin Green ’15, Mike Grover ’16, Yuichi Morii ’16 and Jessica Rosenberg (JV) founded and make up the leadership team of Kellogg Connections. Martin will be returning to Deloitte Consulting after his MBA, Mike worked in Sales & Trading at Barclays, Yuichi worked for a large shipping company in Japan, and Jessica currently works in college admissions and is a significant other to a first-year Kellogg student.