From Connection to Collaboration: A Career Connection Café
One of the many strengths of The Charity Mentoring Network (CMN) is its ability to spark unexpected, meaningful connections.
And sometimes, those connections turn into something even more powerful.
Take, for example, the brilliant new initiative born from a mentoring relationship between Amie Boylan (Alzheimer’s Society) and Andrea “Andi” Varga (WWF-UK). What began as a conversation through the CMN has grown into a cross-charity collaboration that’s all about supporting others through conversation, networking, and shared growth.
Welcome to the Career Connection Café
Amie and Andi have co-designed a Career Connection Café. A virtual space for the Income and Engagement directorate within Alzheimer’s Society and Supporter Income & Engagement directorate from WWF-UK.
For the Income and Engagement Academy within Alzheimer’s society, the session was primarily a result of supporting some of the key skills required within the Income and Engagement directorates, such as: networking, building relationships, communication and questioning techniques. The session provided practical learning opportunities to enhance these skills. This also supported the directorates EDIB (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging) targets.
The pair met and connected at one of the monthly members’ meetings, hosted by the Charity Mentoring Network. They got together and devised a plan to create the Career Connection Cafe, to:
- Explore their unique career journeys
- Build confidence in networking within a relaxed, welcoming environment
- Meet potential future mentors or mentees through the CMN
Their goal? To help others experience the kind of support and shared learning they’ve found through mentoring, without the pressure of formal networking. “We didn’t want it to sound intimidating,” said Amie. “Calling it a ‘networking session’ might put people off. But a café? That feels more open, more human.”
The Power of Peer Mentoring
Amie originally connected with Andi not for traditional mentoring, but out of a desire to collaborate and bounce ideas off someone outside of her immediate team. As someone working in a newly created role focused on building an income and engagement academy, she was looking for fresh perspectives.
Andi, a Learning & Development Specialist at WWF-UK, also found real value in this relationship. “It’s a safe space,” she said. “We’re learning so much from each other. Even though we connected on LinkedIn before, it was the Charity Mentoring Network that actually made it happen.”
Both agree that the mentoring relationship, like many on the CMN platform, is mutual. It’s not about one person having all the answers, but about shared experience, support, and learning side-by-side.
What Happens at their Career Connection Café?
The virtual Café follows a thoughtful and engaging format:
- An introduction from Amie and Andi about how CMN supported their growth and ideas.
- Conversations about the importance of owning your own career journey.
- Breakout rooms to help participants connect across organisations—without even realising they’re “networking.”
- A focus on helping people find the confidence to talk about themselves, ask great questions, and explore how mentoring can support them next.
It’s clever. It’s caring. And it’s built entirely around the idea that mentoring doesn’t have to be formal to be transformational.
A Shared Vision, and a Lot of Heart
At the heart of this collaboration is something simple but powerful: a belief in the power of conversation. As Andi put it, “We’re nervous, but we’re in it together. It’s just like our mentoring chats except this time, we’re sharing it with more people. No matter what happens, we’ll support each other and celebrate what we’ve created.”
What were the results?
Overall, Since launching and promoting the CMN to the IE Academy within Alzheimer’s Society, the participant data shows 23 additional signups, which is a 55% increase to the current total, with an increase of 7 new participants to the platform on the day of the Career Connection Cafe!
Andi from WWF-UK recently posted that the feedback was amazing:
“Really insightful; Really useful, great to get insights from another organisation”
“People’s careers are so interesting”
“Great conversation and learnt a lot about department/role I was curious about”
“I thought the questions were really great for reflecting on where you’re at and where you want to go”
“Amazing session, signed up to Charity Mentoring Network!”
This Is What CMN Is All About
This story is a fantastic example of what’s possible when we connect beyond the boundaries of our own organisations.
Through CMN, people across the charity sector are finding peers, mentors, and collaborators, and turning conversations into real, practical impact. Whether it’s a one-to-one chat, a fresh idea sparked over Zoom, or a brand-new initiative like the Career Connection Café, CMN is proving every day that mentoring works.
Here’s to more connections like Amie and Andi’s—and to the conversations that create lasting change.
To find out how to get your organisation involved, please come along to one of our upcoming virtual coffee mornings