Background

Since the 2000s, mentoring has proliferated as a promising intervention aimed at solving the problems and meeting the needs of young people, adults and international talents, with strategies based on the guidance of adult role models or older peers. In the United States alone, it is estimated that there are more than 5,000 mentoring programs, serving nearly 3,000,000 young people nationwide (DuBois et al., 2011).

The Nordics has seen a similar growth in mentoring programs in the last 10 years. After the 2015-2016 refugee influx in the region more are adapting mentoring as a vehicle for integration. Mentoring requires a principled approach. As a result Catalysts has seen the need to convene leaders in the field from across the Nordic region to stimulate learning and collaboration.