2015 FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme is launched

The 2015 FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme was launched yesterday (14 April) at RIBA in London, where past and potential future mentors and mentees from across the industry gathered to celebrate and share the successes and stories of the class of 2014, and to look ahead to an even bigger and better programme for the coming year.

FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme is an innovative scheme developed by RIBA’s Architects for Change (AfC) committee and the Construction Industry Council, to address the retention and development of talented practitioners from diverse backgrounds for management and leadership roles in the built environment.

Following the event, Danna Walker, CIC Project Manager and AfC Chair, said: “This is the third year of the programme and we look forward to building on our success from previous years so that more people can benefit from the mentor/mentee experience. It’s vitally important to our sector that we support talented practitioners by working together to leverage the power of “we” and build a more inclusive leadership model for construction. ”

Dieter Gockmann, a volunteer mentor last year said: “I know that not all architects are lucky enough to work with or for senior colleagues who are able to empathise with their personal or professional background. As a consequence, these architects are failing to get the support and encouragement they need to fulfil their potential and are opting instead to change careers and so we are losing highly talented and skilled architects to other professions and industries.”

Applications from potential mentors and mentees from every sector of the construction industry and from all career levels, from recent graduates to company Directors and Partners are welcomed. Application forms and guidance notes are available here.

As with previous years the organisers would particularly like to support and encourage applications from women, BME and LGBT professionals, professionals with disabilities and those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The project has been developed in response to evidence gathered on diversity by the Construction Industry Council (CIC), AfC, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the Government’s Fair Access to the Professions Report, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Race Discrimination in the Construction Industry Inquiry Report in addition to other reports.

(Photograh - left - right: Rowan Parnell, Sophie Waterhouse, Harry Rich, Danna Walker, Tim Hurtswyn, Cristina Lanz Azcarate and Dieter Gockmann)