Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentoring

Recruiting, Evaluation and Consulting of Mentees. The mentees consist of West Michigan business leaders who are CEOs, Presidents or determined decision makers of businesses. During 2022, the JEM program accepted ten additional mentees to the program, bringing the total mentees to thirty as of 12/31/22. The 2022 recruiting cycle included receipt of ten applications of which, of those, nine were interviewed, leading to the acceptance of the ten 2022 mentees. The program, in total, includes twenty-four men and six women. The program requires a three-year commitment from all mentees that includes monthly meetings with their mentor and attendance at various educational seminars throughout the year. Approximately 70% of the operating and staff costs associated with program service activities were allocated to accepting, matching, educating and being a resource to the individual mentees.

With JEM's tenth year of "graduated mentees" (individuals who have been working with a mentor monthly for three years), the alumni program for those who still want to stay involved, grew from seventy seven people to eighty seven. These graduated mentees (JEM Ambassador Group - JAG) will no longer be monitored on their monthly meetings with their mentor. For a $900 fee, they can still participate in educational meetings and use other resources of JEM (example: meeting with a few mentors on a needed basis). Our JAG Steering Committee helps build that program and bring new ideas to the JEM Board on improving the existing JEM program.

Recruiting and evaluation of qualified West Michigan business leaders to serve as mentors. The program sponsors educational events for mentors in various business categories and also provides for peer mentor group sessions that assist a mentor in aiding a mentee. The total number of mentors in the program as of 12/31/22 was fifty; forty-five men and five women. In addition to other annual educational events, the mentors each participate in a training and best practices seminar once a year in October. Approximately 20% of the operating and staff costs associated with program service activities were contributed to accepting, matching and educating mentors.