OPBA Mentoring Program - Coming Soon!
Now Recruiting Mentors & Mentees for 2025
This new initiative from the OPBA's Membership Committee is set to launch in January 2025, and will be a catalyst for the transfer of knowledge between generations, will provide a judgement-free zone for any inquiry, will provide an opportunity to learn from colleagues and enhance the overall skill sets of the OPBA membership.
Interested in becoming a Mentor? Read on! For those wanting to become a Mentee, click here.
As you begin your journey toward becoming a Mentor, you will need to thoroughly understand the role of mentoring. You will act as a role model, motivator, and supporter. You understand the need to assume a number of different roles during the course of a Mentoring relationship, and to be a successful Mentor with OPBA, we are looking for people with:
Interested in becoming a Mentor? Read on! For those wanting to become a Mentee, click here.
As you begin your journey toward becoming a Mentor, you will need to thoroughly understand the role of mentoring. You will act as a role model, motivator, and supporter. You understand the need to assume a number of different roles during the course of a Mentoring relationship, and to be a successful Mentor with OPBA, we are looking for people with:
- An active OPBA member in good standing for the duration of your participation in the program
- Preferably have a minimum of five (5) years experience in procurement, with a minimum of one (1) year in public procurement in a senior role
- Willing/able to commit to being a Mentor for a minimum of three (3) months
- Preferably hold a professional designation related to procurement
- Must be able to maintain your Mentor profile on a third party website (the mentoring portal) and keep the profile up to date
- You are trustworthy, supportive, empathetic, and can provide objective advice and constructive feedback
- Desire to support colleagues across the province, give back to those in the field.
| Desired Characteristics | Desired Skills |
| Trustworthy, confidential | Communicates clearly, positively |
| Supportive, responsive | Excellent time management |
| Constructive, objective | Public procurement subject matter expertise |
| Empathetic, helpful | Leadership, can keep sessions focused |
The Mentoring Program will run through Mentorship Rocket, where Mentors will set up a profile that highlights their skill sets, expertise and area(s) of procurement they have experience in (as well as any other details you would like to share). Once the program launches in January, Mentees will be able to view the Mentor profiles and reach out to someone that aligns with their career interests/goals. When a Mentee initiates a connection with the Mentor, the pairing will be matched for the next three (3) months, and are expected to have roughly 4-5 mentoring sessions. Mentors do not initiate pairings with Mentees.
To become a Mentee, you should be early to mid-level in your career and able to come to mentoring sessions with purpose, i.e. career goals you actively want to pursue/discuss, big picture questions related to the public procurement field, questions about obtaining professional designations, etc. While networking is a natural part of the program, you understand the Mentor(s) are not there to elicit employment opportunities from. Once you are logged into the mentoring platform, you will review the Mentor profiles and contact the person who seems best suited to your area of interest. Mentors will not reach out to you as a Mentee. To join the program as a Mentee, you:
- Are an active OPBA member in good standing for the duration of your participation in the program
- Work with your Mentor(s) to choose a method of communication as well as the timing of the mentoring sessions. OPBA does not recommend in-person sessions.
- Accept responsibility for your learning and be open to new ideas/ways of learning.
- Maintain mutual trust with your Mentor, communicate clearly and be respectful of their time.
- Apply what you have learned, take full advantage of the time you have with your Mentor.
You will hear back from us within five (5) business days with next steps.
Unsure if you'd like to join the program? You can review the program guidelines and agreement here.
Both Mentors and Mentees will be sent surveys to gather feedback on your experiences with the program, but please feel free
to email members@opba.ca with any updates/questions/concerns you may have, and thank you for your interest in the program!