Deloitte launches digital mentoring programme in the Middle East

Deloitte has launched its D-180 digital mentoring programme for students and graduates in the Middle East, with applications now open.

Having already in the past fortnight launched a comprehensive apprenticeship programme for first-year university students in Saudi Arabia, Deloitte has backed up with another regional training initiative under its education and skills-building ‘WorldClass’ committment, with the local launch of its D-180 digital mentoring programme. D-180 is open to students and recent graduates with applications are now being accepted.

Intended to equip participants with the skills to gain meaningful employment in the new economy, the programme pairs high school and college students and recent university graduates with volunteer professionals from Deloitte who will provide mentorship and real work exposure along with helping mentees in setting educational pathways for entry to the job market. Naturally, this will be delivered through virtual meetings.

“In these unprecedented times we are living in, new ways of work will soon become the norm and digital mentoring is a natural extension to our current in-person mentoring programs,” said Deloitte Talent and Communications partner Rana Ghandour Salhab. “The virtual mentoring programme will provide young people with opportunities to engage with Deloitte volunteer professionals to gain work and career insights and learn from their experience.”

Salhab also noted the D-180 programme, which runs for a duration of six months, is integral to Deloitte’s community response efforts to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and forms part of the firm’s wider WorldClass programme. As to the latter initiative, Deloitte has at the global level committed to impacting 50 million futures through digital skill-building worldwide by the end of the decade, including 200,000 in the Middle East region.

“Leaders are not born; they are made. Mentorship is invaluable because Deloitte mentors will assist talented young men and women graduates in navigating their early careers, opening up opportunities, and bringing them work and market insights,” concludes Salhab, a respected champion of diversity. “Taking a young mentee on a journey of world of work exploration can truly make an impact on their future whether as future employees or entrepreneurs.”