By Yasmin Waljee OBE, Vice-Chairman, Mosaic

As vice-chair of Mosaic, HRH the Prince of Wales’ mentoring initiative that’s part of the Prince’s Trust, I was honoured that Forward Ladies chose our organisation as charitable partner for the 2016 Women in Business Awards. Over £2200 was raised for Mosaic’s work during the ceremony and for that, we are truly grateful.

Established in 2007, Mosaic shares a real commonality of purpose with Forward Ladies – to unlock potential, raise confidence and help bridge the aspiration-attainment gap.

Whilst the Women in Business Awards are about celebrating success, they’re also crucially about shining a light on inspirational role models for others. It is hugely important such role models exist – sometimes we need others to inspire us, to help us, and to guide us. This is exactly what Mosaic aims to support.

For those of you unfamiliar with our work, we deliver mentoring programmes in schools and prisons across the UK which aim to create opportunities for young people growing up in some of our most deprived communities.

By directly linking children and young people with inspirational role models from the business community, the organisation aims to broaden horizons and give disadvantaged youth the confidence needed to fulfil their potential.

Our Primary School programme has a particular synergy with Forward Ladies. Its focus is very much on supporting mothers and daughters and sees mentors spend several sessions with these family groups; guiding, nurturing and inspiring via both their advice but also the example that they themselves set as successful careers people.

If you’d attended any of the programme’s recent graduation ceremonies then you’d be left in no doubt about their effectiveness, with all of the pupils talking with confidence and excitement about their future careers. We also know that the staff at the participating schools share their pupils’ positivity.

As with most charitable endeavours, we rely heavily on the generosity and support of our sponsors and individual volunteers to make our work possible. And we’re fortunate to have so many inspirational women around us. For instance, Forward Ladies’ very own Griselda Togobo, who sits on the Mosaic Yorkshire Leadership Group, has been true friend and supporter of our cause.

I hope that others in the Forward Ladies network will consider giving up a small amount of their time to help make a real difference to the lives of young people in their local area. If you’d like find out more about being a Mosaic mentor, please do get in touch.

Yasmin Waljee OBE

Yasmin Waljee is a solicitor and full time Pro Bono Manager at international law firm Hogan Lovells LLP. Yasmin’s appointment in 1997 was the first of its kind by a City law firm. Since then she has worked with partners in the firm to develop an international pro bono programme providing free 15,000 hours of legal advice to over 200 charities and individuals a year unable to afford legal advice.