About the Program
The Capital Heritage Mentorship Program connects experienced senior managers in the Ottawa culture and heritage sectors, with graduate students and recent graduates wishing to embark on a career in heritage, and emerging professionals who wish to move their career to the next level. This project will serve emerging heritage professionals who will be matched in small groups, led by a mentor in a specialized heritage-related field. This initiative will allow Mentees to gain valuable experience to further develop their careers. The program will run for 5 months.
The initiative will invite 4 developing professionals to participate in a strategic program to help transition and plan for the coming years of your heritage career. The focus will be on networking (how to effectively create and build on professional connections), career development (creating and setting personal career goals with next steps), and leadership (developing the required skills and knowledge to become a leader in Ottawa’s heritage sector).
2026 Capital Heritage Mentorship Program Forum
Why This Program is Important
The ultimate outcome for this project is that Mentees expand their networks and build on their professional development goals. The Capital Heritage Mentorship Program supports youth, new graduates or new professionals in the Capital – those that are currently in search of work or have just begun their career. The project invites all applicants including those in: Indigenous communities; ethno-cultural and racial minority communities; individuals living on low incomes; newcomers; Francophones; and the LGBTQ+ community. They will be empowered by Mentors who are experts in the field. Mentors may benefit from building on their mentoring skills, gaining new insights on the heritage sector, and planning for succession of the sector through training tomorrow’s heritage leaders.
We recognize that not-for-profit culture and heritage organizations are facing challenges in planning for the future. Strict budgets and uncertain funding situations mean that entry level positions are harder to come by, while on-the-job training is less emphasized as institutions often look to promote from without instead of training staff upwards. This is combined with the narrowing of educational opportunities in the Heritage Field with the closure of Algonquin College’s Applied Museum Studies Program and the closure of its Perth Campus where Heritage Trades were taught.
As access to traditional heritage education contracts, mentorship will become increasingly important in ensuring access to careers and opportunities in the sector.
