100 mentors, the greek startup connecting classrooms with the working world of today and tomorrow

Athens - Greece

In Athens, I met Yiorgos Nikoletakis who founded the start-up 100 mentors.

What do they do ? They connect classrooms with the working world of today. The target high school students are around 15 years old, this stage in life where they have to make an important choice.

Yiorgos realized that this choice is too often made without a clear consciousness of existing possibilities. By enabling classrooms to discuss directly with mentors (from the NASA engineer to the freelance photographer) through live sessions on internet, 100mentors broaden the field of professional and academic possibilities of youngsters.

" “Consciousness" means being aware of your environment and all the choices available to you, so that you can make the responsible decision ..." (Yiorgos Nikoletakis)

100 mentors caught my attention because, while speaking about the future of work, I had always in mind the fact that an adaptation in education is needed. Why would we prepare students to working cultures and professional path that no longer exists ?

100 mentors provides the possibility for these 2 worlds to communicate openly.

"...you then have good chances to clearly see what makes you dream, setting aside all stereotypes that confuse you. And this is the starting point for building a bold mission which you will religiously pursue, no matter what the circumstances are. Mentors are the raw material of our faith." (Yiorgos Nikoletakis)

Furthermore, the 100 mentors team operates with the willingness to include critical thinking and intellectual humility in youngsters education.

To know more about how Yiorgos, who grew up in the sunny island of Creta, used serendipity in his journey and ended up creating this start-up in Greece, defying the crisis, I invite you to read his interesting article.