Professional Development & Mentorship Project

The Professional Development & Mentorship Project (PDM Project) is a pilot program created in partnership between The AFC, AFBS, and Dancer Transition Resource Centre.

We want to enable our communities of arts professionals to acquire career development skills and tools to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare them to face the new post-pandemic future in our work sector. The PDM Project will offer a mentorship program and online learning workshops led by a respected and experienced group of leaders in the arts and entertainment industry.   

The Group Mentorship Course

Are you looking to make a career shift to a new role in your arts discipline or hoping to make a significant transition to a brand new career inside or outside the arts and entertainment sector? Maybe you are embarking on some career exploration for which you need guidance and insight?

We are proud to announce an exciting new opportunity for arts professionals across Canada, the Group Mentorship Course. Through this free one-month experience, you will have access to 3 seasoned professionals in the arts and entertainment sector – dance, theatre, and film & TV.

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Who can benefit from this program?

This program is for people of any age looking to make a shift in their careers. You could be an emerging, mid-career or mature arts professional. You are looking for insight and guidance for either a specific career advancement goal, career exploration or career transition.

• Maybe you are a dancer or stage actor who wants to work in film/TV and don’t know what film/TV career opportunities may exist for you;
• Maybe you are an arts professional who has multiple career projects in mind (such as a residency, a fringe festival tour or a film project you want to get off the ground) but need some strategic career planning to optimize your path forward;
• Maybe you feel stuck, in a rut and want to look at new performance opportunities or a parallel career that broadens your skillset and supplements your income;
• Maybe you want to explore career opportunities outside of the arts and entertainment sector and want to learn about those options.

How will the program work?

• Each cohort will have 3 mentors with varied experience and expertise in dance, theatre, film/TV;
• We will be accepting a limited number of mentees per cohort.
• Our group mentor/mentee experience will be a combination of collective learning and guidance with opportunities for more individual attention.
• Our group mentor/mentee experience requires commitment. Once accepted you must attend all 4 sessions.
• This unique mentoring model requires a collaborative and generous spirit. We will encourage peer sharing and support.
• We want our mentees to be curious and take time to reflect on their career paths.
• All courses will be online via a platform to be determined.
• This is a free course for arts professionals in Canada.
• You will be placed in the cohort that best fits your career enquiry.
• You must commit to attending all 4 sessions.

How to apply:

Admission is by application only. Applications for the Group Mentorship Course are now closed.

Timeline:

• Each cohort consists of 4 online sessions, 1 per week, lasting 1 hour.
• There will be 2 cohorts: July 12 – August 6 or August 9 – September 3.
• Application deadline is Wednesday, June 30, 2021, at 5 pm (ET).
• Program application notifications will be sent to all applicants by email as of July 5, 2021.

If you have any questions about the program please contact Michael Du Maresq, Managing Director at leaptransitioncan@gmail.com.

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We thank the Canadian Senior Artists Resource Network (CSARN) for their support.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.