One of the two significant pieces of the TRANSFORM Grant is access to mentorship. Each person/team gets an awesome mentor with expertise in their industry and/or areas of focus and connections with other folks to fill gaps where needed. Those gaps are filled by the TRANSFORM Grantee Support Network (GSN) , which helps support current and past grantees!
TL;DR: the TRANSFORM Grantee Support Network (GSN) plays a significant role in helping support current and past grantees, by leveraging their expertise and connections with a range of smaller, one-off requests/ actions all the way to serving as an assigned mentor to a grantee. Click here to fill out our interest indicator.
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While you may know from exploring our website or social media (our shameless plug, go check it out!) that we believe in wealth redistribution, one of the more nuanced beliefs that we as TRANSFORM hold true is that wealth is way more than money. Our grant is built around the idea that one of the most important forms of wealth is social – or more simply put, our relationships and connections. We believe strongly in the power of our communities, and that they are one of the most important helpers along our individual journeys, providing support and answering questions we have. We also believe very strongly that whatever someone can contribute to help (whether 3 hours a year or 3 hours a month) wll make a meaningful difference in sharing knowledge. So, we created the GSN to help gather information from our greater, collective networks so that we are always ready to support our grantees.
What does it mean to be able to contribute to the GSN? What qualifies me to be an “expert” on something?
First off, we don’t believe you have to be an “expert” in any one thing to be qualified to join! Everyone comes in with a different level of understanding and ability to coach or help, and we’d rather you share something you think you’re capable of so if/when the time comes, we can reach out to see if you’re the right person to help. If that still feels ambiguous, you can consider a hypothetical… Say you’re meeting with a friend over coffee, and they make a casual comment to say that they are struggling with their social media presence and finding their online “voice”. So in your head, you ponder a few quick questions before responding…
- Have you been paid to help someone else do this work, or done this before for your own social media?
- Have you helped a friend as they’ve done this for their social media?
- Could you help identify a few key questions to help someone better define how they go about doing this?
- Would you be able to identify what a good social media presence looks/sounds like, what are the important elements of a “voice”
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you definitely have expertise that’s worth sharing! Some of the asks from our grantees can be technical/complex/formal (e.g., could I get help with this tax form?) and others are really about serving as a sounding board, offering perspective, and some helpful tips and tricks.
Okay… aside from having some knowledge, what else makes someone a good fit to join the GSN?
TRANSFORM is a values-first organization, and with that, our primary criteria for having someone be a part of the GSN (or a grantee) is to be values-aligned. We are actively anti-capitalistic and antiracist, are continually working to identify and dismantle oppressive systems of power, and are looking for people who are interested in doing the same (more on our values here). The definition of how you hold and act on those values is different for everyone, so we are looking for people who consciously challenge the capitalist status quo, are open to talking about how anti-capitalism can show up in a venture, and are excited to work with other people who are doing the same.
What has engagement with the GSN looked like so far?
Here are some past examples of how folks in our GSN have supported grantees:
- Met 1:1 with a grantee a few times to help grow an area where they wanted more information
- Invited a grantee to attend a class or webinar they hosted
- Provided a coaching opportunity in their area of expertise
- Donated their skills & timeto help a grantee with their financial business plan or marketing strategy
- Chatted 1:1 with a grantee to better understand what they needed help with, and connected them to online resources or other helpful contacts
How will TRANSFORM use the info I share? How will I be contacted?
The goal of the GSN is to have a database of like-minded, differently-skilled individuals who can be called upon to support a past or present grantee when the need arises. The information in the database will only be accessible to the Advisory Council to use when appropriate, and no worries– before putting you in contact with a grantee, we will reach out to you directly to get a better picture of your current capacity and understanding of a topic more specifically.
Anything else I should know?
Aside from being values-aligned and some knowledge that’s helpful to share, what really makes a great addition to the GSN is enthusiasm! Our grantees work on some incredibly meaningful, powerful, and creative businesses and social ventures, and it is really important that you are excited to help them wherever they are in their entrepreneurial journey. We want all the interactions with everyone associated with TRANSFORM to be energizing and insightful.
And that’s it! If you’re interested in becoming a grantee mentor for future grant recipients or if you’re willing to donate your time as part of our grantee support network, learn how to get involved & apply here, or be on the lookout on our website/socials for one of our GSN orientations/info sessions. And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to anyone on the Advisory Council for more info!
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