By Shirley Schneider | Director
Since its creation, Joule Black Mentoring has continued to strengthen the career development, confidence, and professional networks of Black youth in Brazil. The program was created after Instituto Joule identified that Black youth represented a significant share of the young people participating in our initiatives. We therefore designed a mentoring experience that combines career development with representation, connecting young Black participants with experienced Black professionals who can share knowledge, opportunities, and relatable career journeys.
Across its five cohorts, Black Mentoring has already reached 340 young people from 145 cities across 19 Brazilian states to date, demonstrating the program's ability to reach participants well beyond Brazil's major urban centers. The program's consolidated NPS is 9.8, reflecting consistently high satisfaction among participants.
Our most recent cohort showed particularly strong engagement. Of 78 participants who started the program, 69 remained through the end, resulting in an 88% retention rate. During this cohort alone, mentors and mentees completed 252 mentoring sessions and contributed more than 300 hours of volunteer mentoring, with meetings lasting an average of 72 minutes.
Participant satisfaction was also extremely high. The average rating for mentoring sessions was 9.7/10, the likelihood of recommending the program was 9.9/10, and Instituto Joule's program support received an average rating of 9.8/10. We received 414 monitoring survey responses throughout the journey, showing strong engagement from both mentors and mentees.
More importantly, participants reported tangible changes in their professional development. By the end of the program, 100% of respondents reported greater career clarity, confidence in recruitment processes, and awareness of their next professional steps. In addition, 76% reported improved self-awareness, 72% developed an Individual Development Plan, 67% created or updated their CV and LinkedIn profile, 57% strengthened their confidence, and 50% reported gaining access to new opportunities and expanding their professional networks. Some participants also progressed to interviews and new employment opportunities during the mentoring journey.
One story illustrates what these numbers mean in practice. Mentor Silmara Pereira dos Santos shared that her mentee entered the program hoping to find a new job. By their final mentoring session, the young woman was able to tell her that she was starting the new job she had been working toward. Silmara highlighted how the mentee's commitment, trust, and dedication helped turn one of her main goals into a concrete result.
Her mentee, Julia Victoria Eneh, described another important dimension of the program: representation. She shared that her mentor helped her recognize how much she had already accomplished and see that she was building a real career. Having someone from her professional field as a reference helped her envision possibilities she had not previously imagined and gave her additional motivation to continue pursuing her goals.
Black Mentoring has shown us that mentoring is not only about transferring professional knowledge. Representation, belonging, confidence, and access to networks can play an important role in expanding what young people believe is possible for their careers.
As we continue the program, we are also incorporating participant feedback. Mentors and mentees have suggested a longer mentoring journey, additional opportunities for interaction among participants, extra masterclasses, and continued improvements to our mentor-mentee matching process. These insights will help Instituto Joule strengthen future cohorts and continue expanding the quality and reach of Black Mentoring.
Thank you to everyone who supports this project. Your contribution helps us connect more Black youth across Brazil with professional references, networks, knowledge, and opportunities that can strengthen their career journeys.
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