Overview

The WA Mining Club recognises the value of increasing the diversity of its membership base and has begun a program of initiatives to broaden the appeal of the club and to create a more inclusive nature of our activities.

In 2018, we implemented a number of initiatives focused on increasing the proportion of female and young professional members and in 2019 we hosted our first indigenous business themed panel.  The initiatives to increase young professionals included establishing a Young Professionals group for them to run events of interest to this demographic and gain new sponsors.  This focus has contributed to an increase in the proportion of young professional members from less than 1% to 14% (80 members).  A Young Professional (YP) is someone who has less than ten years’ experience in the mining industry.

Whilst the Young Professionals group has great traction attracting mining professionals to their events, the sustainable goal is to ensure they are also part of the Standard Member activities and become leaders of WA Mining Club in the future.  To ensure the YPs get involved with the broader club activities and transition to Standard membership we are launching a Mentor Program where a YP Member is matched to a Standard Member who will transition them into Standard Member events and assist in developing their career in the mining industry.

Features of the program are:

• The YP will be paired with a Standard Member (mentor) according to professional development sought, e.g. same profession, career growth, seeking new opportunities, wanting to understand a different industry sector, etc.
• A mentoring agreement will be entered into describing the boundaries, confidentiality and expectations of the program.
• A mentoring program guide will be provided to help build a successful mentoring arrangement.
• As a mentor, we ask that you commit to four 1:1 sessions with the YP you are assigned, lasting one hour each.
• Mentor and YP organise meetings at least monthly for six months, to discuss agreed professional development.
• Should you choose to continue this relationship, or meet more frequently, this is up to you and the YP.
• The Standard Member and Young Professional Member will receive discounted tickets to all WA Mining Club events for the duration of the mentoring agreement (up to twelve months).

We look forward to you joining the Mentor Program and providing your experience to one of our Young Professionals.  If you have any questions or would like to support some of our other initiatives, please contact Dani Tamati.