As universities prepare for another academic year right now, many are thinking about mentoring. An interesting insight we found in a recent paper in Frontiers of Education points to something we’ve been talking about all along: Mentoring isn’t just a program. It’s a system.

More people are using AI as a career coach, sounding board, or mentor. But the rise of AI in this space may actually be teaching us something important about human mentoring. Read Shawn's reflection in this month's newsletter: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/sA1E5tT

We are excited to introduce Lexa, MentorCity’s new AI Mentor. Designed around proven mentoring principles, Lexa asks thoughtful questions and helps participants discover their own answers.

I watched a man’s life change in 10 minutes. It was 2006. I was running a mentoring event for newcomers trying to get their first job in Canada. That moment planted the seed that eventually became MentorCity.

To our Toronto area followers and those beyond (please mention your location), what’s the #1 challenge you face in running a mentoring program in your organization right now? Comment below! We read every response and might just have something that helps! 😀

When you can show the impact of mentoring, it becomes a strategic priority that is hard to cut. MentorCity makes it easy to track this data, automating surveys, analytics, and ROI dashboards. Book a meeting to see how we can help!

Research shows that over 40% organizations cite a lack of measurable outcomes as their biggest barrier to keeping effective mentoring programs alive. Because the programs that survive budget cuts aren’t always the ones doing the best work. They are the ones that can show effective outcomes.

The quality of a mentoring relationship often comes down to one conversation. The one where participants define what they are actually working toward.

What differentiates casual advice from effective mentoring? Usually it’s having clearly defined goals. When a mentee has clarity about where they’re headed, conversations become more actionable.

One reason mentoring relationships lose momentum? The conversations stay without clear direction and clear goal posts. General advice has its place. But without clear goals, there’s nothing to return to. Nothing to measure. Nothing to build on.

When we think about mentoring relationships, there are important relationships we often overlook. And yet, those relationships are often where the most meaningful learning, support, and growth happen. In this month’s newsletter we’re exploring why these connections matter.

In our latest update, we made goals easier to stay on top of when you use the MentorCity platform. Members can now: → Quickly edit goals as they evolve → Update them based on progress → Get verification prompts before deleting a goal Small changes—but they help participants stay intentional.

We know that reducing friction can help keep mentoring conversations active. So we built a small UX improvement into our platform to make mentoring conversations easy to continue. With our latest update, members can now reply directly from their email to conversation messages.

Our latest update allows you to schedule meetings outside of formal mentoring relationships—even directly within group & discussion spaces. More room for unexpected mentoring moments. Less friction. Because sometimes the best mentoring moments aren’t on the official agenda.

One of the things mentoring software helps with is reducing the admin burden of running mentoring programs. That’s what our customers keep mentioning as the top benefit of working with MentorCity. They can concentrate on the mentoring relationships without the admin work.

Strong mentoring cultures don’t just come from top-down programs. They come from creating environments where learning and feedback flow in every direction. They come from creating many points of connection and learning across the organization.

A recent Psychology Today article makes an interesting point: We may be overlooking the mentors already around us. Not a senior leader. Your peers & colleagues. They are what the writer describes as “mirror mentors”: people who reflect back what we can’t see in ourselves.

When mentorship is treated as optional and left to chance, not everyone gets access and programs struggle to scale.

New research from Signal49 Research (Formerly Conference Board of Canada) shows most people with disabilities have never had a mentor. In this month’s newsletter, we explore why that gap exists and what it actually takes to close it. Subscribe here: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/sA1E5tT

What if language was no longer a barrier in connecting with the right mentor? We just made that possible. MentorCity’s video conferencing calls now allow for live transcription and translations — meaning mentors and mentees can now connect and communicate across languages in real time.

We’ve got big news for Spanish-speaking organizations. MentorCity is now fully available in Spanish. Spanish-speaking mentors and mentees can now navigate the entire platform in their language.

Mentoring happens in more than just the meetings and the matches. It often happens in the small moments around them. - The follow-up conversations. - The shared experiences. - The moments of insight. - Having a place where you are supported and understood.

If your mentoring program feels a bit quiet, you don’t really need a big overhaul. A few small steps can often help bring back activity and engagement. Here are a few things you could do on a platform like MentorCity:

Launching a mentoring program is one thing. Keeping it active is where most programs struggle. After the initial setup, momentum can drop quickly if there’s no plan and structure to support it. Here’s what strong programs do differently. They stay involved. They create ongoing touchpoints.

Starting a mentoring program can feel overwhelming. Perhaps the biggest question most organizations have is: Where do you even begin? In our experience of working with hundreds of organizations, this is what we’ve seen: You just need a clear starting point and some steps mapped out.

Most mentorship programs don’t fail because of lack of intent. They struggle because conversations, collaborations, and relationships don’t have a space to live and grow. MentorCity’s Spaces feature provides that room.

What if your mentoring program didn’t just connect people…but it actually brought them together in the right rooms? MentorCity’s Spaces feature allows you to create focused areas for different groups within your program—all in one place.

As conversations about AI grow, one thing becomes more and more important: Creating more spaces for real human connection. That’s why we are excited to announce the new Community section in MentorCity.

In our latest newsletter, we’re sharing a new feature we’ve rolled out to help mentoring programs foster deeper community and connection. If you run mentoring programs or care about the future of mentoring, you may find it interesting. Subscribe to the newsletter: Link in bio

When systems support administration of mentoring programs, relationships stay on track, programs are able to scale, and meaningful mentoring relationships thrive.

For many organizations, administrative work becomes the biggest barrier to scaling mentorship programs. That’s where mentoring software can make a real difference.

Mentoring isn’t just one-directional. Most people talk about all the things mentees gain: confidence, career direction, clarity. But mentors grow too.

The world feels heavy lately. And we’re reminded of one belief that shapes not just our platform, but our purpose: More mentoring relationships mean more understanding — and that’s where real change begins.

Here are a few ways our customer CPLED saw a transformation through their collaboration with us. Read the full story here: www.mentorcity.com/customer-sto...

One of the things we’ve witnessed across thousands of mentoring programs we’ve had the honor to facilitate is this: Mentoring can change lives In a recent interview, we shared the story behind why we believe so deeply in mentorship. 🎧 Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M_q...

Senior leadership at CPLED had to demonstrate scalability. But their old system had the team stretched thin. With MentorCity, time spent in administrative work went down by 92% and the entire process of running PREP became much easier.

Something special happened when the Canadian Centre for Professional and Legal Education (CPLED) replaced its old system of hosting and scheduling meetings for its flagship program with a new system on MentorCity. Sign-up to our newsletter and we’ll send the story your way:

Technology scales systems. Humans scale trust. Trust is built in relationships. And mentoring is one way that trust spreads. Trust spreads when people feel seen, supported, and a sense of belonging.

If AI can support mentoring….what are the areas where humans must always lead? We’ve all seen the discussions about all the great things that AI can do for mentoring. But it’s also important to be clear on where it can’t—and shouldn’t—lead.

We’ve talked about how AI can’t completely replace human connection. But it can be an incredibly helpful support tool that makes mentoring programs more effective and easier to run Here’s how AI can add value to mentoring without taking the human out of it:

Can AI replace human connection? This has been a topic that has stirred quite a lot of debate. What’s your take on this? Let’s talk about it!

We’d love to hear real experiences here: Tell us honestly, have you ever used ChatGPT or another AI tool as a sounding board? Not only for work, but to think something through. To process your feelings. To untangle a decision. To get journaling prompts as you work through complex decisions.

Are you an AI skeptic or an AI adopter when it comes to mentoring? According to HR.com’s Future Demands in Coaching and Mentoring 2025 Report, HR leaders are split. Are you an AI skeptic or an AI adopter when it comes to mentoring? Drop your take below. 👇 Let’s talk about it!

In our latest newsletter we talked about how organizations seeing the greatest benefit from mentoring aren’t just those running stand-alone mentoring programs. They are the ones with strong mentoring cultures. We see this principle play out every day with our customers.

If you want mentoring to be truly effective for your organization, you have to treat it as more than just an add-on. A new HBR article explains why and what leaders need to do differently in 2026. Get the full breakdown in our January newsletter: lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/sA1E5tT

This #NationalMentoringMonth, we’re celebrating the people who shaped us—professionally and personally—and helped us grow into who we are today. Tag a mentor, coach, coworker, or someone who has made a difference in your life and let them know how much they mattered.

Quiet moments matter in leadership. Reflection shapes decisions before action.

I’m thinking about leadership as we head into the new year. Yellowstone shows two styles — hands-on vs steady support. Both come from strength. This year, I want to be more intentional about the leader I’m becoming. youtube.com/shorts/uprB5...

On behalf of MentorCity, we wish you a very happy holiday season. We hope you’re able to spend meaningful time with family and loved ones, and we look forward to working with you in the new year. Thank you for being part of our community.