• Commit at least one hour of support and interaction per week.
• Possess ample experience in the area of expertise.
• Entrepreneurial experience is a plus.

Interested mentors please fill the Mentor Form (MS Word Document) and forward along with your resume to fatefoundationusa@yahoo.com.

Mentor Matching FAQ

• What am I expected to do? Mentors are expected to provide their entrepreneurs with about one hour of support and interaction per week. Most of this interaction will take place via email and other web-related tools (instant messaging etc.). Mentors should work with their entrepreneurs to determine what kind of support will be most useful: specific feedback, general business advice, technical information, personal encouragement, and so on.
• How long will the commitment be? We ask our mentors to make commitments of at least one year in order to ensure that the entrepreneur is able to fully benefit from the relationship. If a mentor must leave the relationship early, we request at least one month's notice in order to search for a replacement mentor with similar background.
• Who are the entrepreneurs and how are they selected? Participants are aspiring and/or emerging Nigerian entrepreneurs. Some are already running their own businesses, while others are still in the planning or initial financing stages.Entrepreneurs are nominated to us by reputable Nigerian non-profit organizations, and FATE USA then conducts a secondary screening to determine their suitability for the program.
• How are mentors selected? Mentors are selected based on their specific area of expertise and whether this expertise meets the needs of one of our entrepreneurs. If no match is initially made, there still remains a strong possibility that a suitable match will be found in the subsequent rounds.
• Are there any potential risks to me or my company? No. FATE USA will not provide entrepreneurs with any information about the mentor except an email address, nor will we share the mentor's information with any third party. It is not appropriate for mentors to engage in any business transactions with their entrepreneurs (including sharing proprietary information, making investments, etc.); instead, the relationship should only involve the flow of general information and advice.

Mentor Matching: Relationship Guidelines
FATE USA's mentor matching program has intentionally been designed to allow for maximum flexibility, in order to empower mentors and entrepreneurs to structure their relationship in a way that will be personalized, effective, and fulfilling. When a mentoring relationship is established, the first order of business should be to create an inventory of the entrepreneur's needs and the mentor's expertise, and then to design a plan of action that will address these needs in the best way possible. It is important to outline mutual expectations at this point in the relationship: both parties should know whether to expect specific feedback or general advice, how frequent communications will be, and what kinds of outcomes are to be expected at the end of the mentorship.

The mentor-matching program is intended to be a mean through which general advice and support can flow between Nigerian entrepreneurs and US-based professionals. It is not intended to be a system for entrepreneurs to obtain VISAs, jobs, investments, contracts, or proprietary information. It is never appropriate for the entrepreneur to ask for such assistance, nor for the mentor to provide it. Please limit the mentoring relationship to one of communication and advice.

If either participant is ever unhappy or concerned about the mentorship, FATE USA encourages them to contact us immediately. We will provide our full support to resolve the situation in a positive and satisfactory manner.

Mentor Matching: Feedback
Periodically, FATE Foundation USA will use the results of this program to launch the mentor matching initiative on a larger scale. As we do so, your experiences and feedback will be crucial. We may periodically send out a feedback form to every participant; we would appreciate your thoughtful responses to these forms. In addition, we welcome and encourage unsolicited feedback throughout the process. Please contact FATE USA with your ideas, suggestions, and other feedback in order to help us build the best mentor matching program possible.

Resources
As you begin your mentorship, you may find it helpful to communicate with your counterpart through a free, "real time" messaging system such as AOL Instant Messenger or ICQ. Should you choose to occasionally communicate by phone with your entrepreneur; a relatively low rate of US$ 0.58 per minute can be obtained through BigZoo.

One of the best resources for the theory and practice of mentoring can be found at http://www.coachingnetwork.co.uk. Although much of its information is tailored toward in-house, face-to-face mentoring, some of it is also helpful for E-mentors. Finally, always consider FATE Foundation USA a resource. We are happy to provide any advice or information that is within our capabilities.

Mentor Do's and Don'ts
Do:

• Respond to emails from your entrepreneurs at most two days after receipt.
• Develop creative approaches for helping your entrepreneur solve his or her business problems.
• Be willing to provide technical support and/or referrals to your entrepreneur.
• Provide honest and timely feedback to your entrepreneur.
• Recognize the limitations of your experiences to the entrepreneur's challenges in the trenches.
• Keep information that your entrepreneur has shared with you confidential.
• Devote at least 4 hours to your entrepreneur on a monthly basis.
• Provide periodic updates on the nature of the relationship with your entrepreneur to FATE USA.

Don't:

• Give your entrepreneur your home address or telephone number.
• Help your entrepreneur apply for a VISA or Green Card Lottery.
• Divulge information about your entrepreneur's business or challenges that your entrepreneur is facing.
• Be condescending or make assumptions about your entrepreneur's age, educational background, experience, etc.

Entrepreneur's Do's and Don'ts
Do:

• Take a proactive role in shaping the nature of the mentorship.
• Be open and honest with your mentor about your business challenges and weaknesses.
• Challenge what the mentor says if you disagree with it.
• Respond in a timely manner to your mentor's feedback.
• Provide periodic updates on the nature of your relationship with your mentor to FATE USA.

Don't:

• Never solicit confidential information, investment, immigration assistance, contracts, job opportunities, or anything else besides general information and advice from your mentor.
• Share any personal or sensitive information your mentor may give you with anyone.
• Blame the mentor if his or her advice doesn't work out.
• Expect the mentor to know all od the answers.
• Create a long shopping list of things you want the mentor to do for you.

For Mentee

FATE USA is excited about the provision of this service to you. Interested entrepreneurs please fill the Mentee Form and forward, along with your company profile, where applicable via email to fatefoundationusa@yahoo.com.