Keychange & shesaid.so: we.grow 2022

Keychange and @shesaid.so were excited to continue their mentoring collaboration, we.grow, which provided the 2022 Keychange participants with one-to-one mentoring throughout the following year! Mentoring is a unique and powerful tool to accelerate careers, create supportive networks and develop skills for both mentors and mentees.

A total of 70 Keychange participants signed up for the mentorship program that lasted from February 2022 - September 2022. Mentorship pairs were expected to meet a total of 2 hours a month, arranged as decided in their pairs. shesaid.so delivered the project which included; finding the mentors, pairing with participants needs, onboarding all mentors, overseeing the mentorship managers, troubleshooting any issues and evaluation of the programme.

Overall the program was a huge success and development for both mentors and mentees. Here are some key stats from our feedback survey:

Mentors

71% of mentors felt the experience widened their professional network

89% of mentors felt it had increased their confidence

79% of mentors felt it increased their industry knowledge

86% of mentors felt it had increased their skills

Mentees

84% of mentees felt the experience widened their professional network

62% of mentees felt it had increased their confidence

78% of mentees felt it increased their industry knowledge

74% of mentees felt it had increased their skills

Overall the mentoring has been extremely successful for many of the pairs, with huge learnings and confidence gains on both sides of the relationship. The positive feedback for mentees focused around the increase in knowledge and the safe-space provided, away from their workplace, a space to be honest about their experience and get honest feedback in return.

we.grow at ADE Mentoring Program 2022

In 2022 the shesaid.so x ADE mentoring program is back under a new, inclusive name, we.grow at ADE. This year five mentees from the electronic music sphere and five mentees with a more specific focus on the web3 space will be invited along. Mentors are curated from the global shesaid.so community and mentees are invited to apply via the ADE website.

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Program Outline

• 10 mentors & 10 mentees (5 electronic music + 5 web3)

• 1 Mentor handbook

• 1 Mentee handbook

• 1 Mentor/Mentee training session

• 3 private events

Mentors & Mentees

This year we are excited to invite 5 mentees from the wide electronic music space and 5 mentees with a more specific focus on the web3 space.

The web3 track of the scheme will take place in partnership with ZORA - The open protocol to buy, sell and curate NFTs on Ethereum. We feel particularly aligned with them as a partner, as reflected by their Manifesto.

Web3 is a growing technology area that is changing the music industry as we speak and it is our desire to educate our community about opportunities within it and offer them the chance to learn from the best leaders in this space.

For the regular electronic music track of the scheme, we teamed up with YouTube Music and Meta to host a kickoff and a closing brunch events for mentors and mentees. This is an opportunity for us to create connections for the we.grow participants to these powerful companies. 

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shesaid.so & PRS Launch Power Up 2022

In April 2021, POWER UP announced the 20 music creators and 20 industry professionals and executives who made up Year 1 of the Participant Programme, a key feature of the long-term initiative launched to address anti-Black racism and racial disparities in the music sector.

Managed by PRS Foundation and launched in February 2022, the Participant Programme elevated exciting Black talent and attracted 512 applications from 363 music creators and 149 industry professionals at crucial career stages.

Holistic support, specifically designed to fit the needs of the participants, assisted the development of their careers and practice to break through glass ceilings and accelerate change. Participant Programme support includes grant support of up to £15,000 alongside capacity building masterclasses, mentoring (working with mentoring managers, shesaid.so), coaching, mental health and wellbeing support and access to added value support from POWER UP Partners and the peer network which is integral to breaking down barriers.

Through the Year 1 programme (April 2021-April 2022) Participants built a very strong network and we have been inspired by the ways in which Participants are already shaping the future of the music industry. Successes so far include:

• Award nominations, wins and recognition: Nova Twins received a Mercury Music Prize nomination for their POWER UP-supported album, plus 2 x BRITS nominations; Jennifer John received the Local Hero Award at the AIM Awards, Ego Ella May won Vocalist of the Year at the Jazz FM Awards, TAALIAH won an AIM Award; Laura Lewis-Paul, Eunice Obianagha and Christine Osazuma were recognised on the She Said.So Alt List 2021, and Hannah Shogbola was added to the Music Week Women in Music Awards Role of Honour. Abel Selaocoe’s BBC Proms performance of “Africa Meets Europe” received a 4**** review from The Times, Daniel Kidane received a 4**** review in The Guardian for his BBC Proms piece “Revel” and Nova Twins were displayed on the Times Square NYC Billboards for their critically acclaimed debut album

• New record, publishing and agent deals for Participants: TAALIAH signed to Primary Talent, KG signed to Paradigm Talent Agency (EU, Worldwide) & Awesome Agency (North, South America) (2021), Nova Twins signed to Marshall records and Aux joined the roster at Primary Talent International and Atlas Management

• New roles and promotions for Participants: (e.g. Christine Osazuwa was appointed as Chief Strategy Officer at Shoob, and Adem Holness is now Head of Contemporary Music at the Southbank Centre), Despa Robinson joined the AIM board and Daniel Kidane was elected to the Ivors Academy Senate; and Selina Wedderburn joined Rehegoo Music Group then was promoted to Director of Operations

• New ventures: Errol Anderson curated performances at the White Cube Gallery as part of Frieze Festival, Loretta Andrews launched the “I Am Independent Bootcamp Video course” as a resource for independent artists, Adem Holness curated and delivered the hugely successful 696 Festival at Horniman Museum to explore the relationship between public space and Black live music, Kwame Daniels’ started his own BBC Radio Ulster show, KG now has a Capital show and Abel Selaocoe had a three-part show on BBC Radio 3 titled “Cello Retold”. Des Agyekumhene’s company Soga were behind the Close To Home NFT campaign for Aitch– the first artist to claim an NFT entering the UK’s official album charts.