Mentoring for women in the design industry

Our mentoring programme is just one of the ways you can get actively involved with Kerning the Gap. Mentoring is a fantastic tool to help empower and grow confidence and leadership skills, and both our mentors and mentees have found the relationship both transformative and fulfilling.

Now running online across the UK, the fully-supported annual programme provides the opportunity to be paired with a mentor or mentee, with guidance and support from mentoring experts throughout the 12 months. Not to mention the kick-ass community of wonderful people you’ll meet.

(Men - we strongly encourage you to get involved as mentors too!)

How it works

Stage 1: Matching

The first stage is to attend the initial online event. This is a two hour session that introduces you to the programme and involves a speed matching session where you will meet potential mentors. You are then required to list a few people you think you would like to work with and we will match you. 

Stage 2: Kick Off

We then ask you to attend a two hour training session to kick off the process. Being a good mentee is just as important as being a good mentor and this session will ensure that you both have the tools and training you need to get the most out of your pairing. 

Stage 3: Off you go!

Once you’re all set from the above sessions we ask that you make time over the following year to meet. We ask the mentee to drive the relationship and take responsibility for the scheduling of meetings etc. The frequency of the meetings is defined by the pair but, as a rule of thumb, we suggest every six weeks for an hour and a half. 

Stage 4: Keeping in touch

To fully support you we have a mid-point session for all mentors and mentees at the 6 month mark, as well as a wrap up session at the end to consolidate and share everyone’s experiences.

Here you can find one-page guides for both mentors and mentees.

How much does it cost?

We believe that having a mentor is invaluable and want to make this as accessible as possible for everyone so it’s just £95 per mentee. Mentors we ask nothing from you other than the massive generosity of your time.

PLACES OPEN now!

We have one intake a year each spting, and places for the the 2026 programme are now OPEN! Matching take place in three different session between 13th-16th April.

Click the button below to sign up 👇