The Power of Mentoring and Financial Literacy in Social Mobility

ESG issues – it is not just about the big headlines

When the topic of ESG is mentioned, most people typically think about the bigger ticket issues such as climate change, sustainability goals, inclusion and diversity initiatives, green investing, corporate governance, etc. This automatic response makes sense as we see the bigger issues in the headlines more often and more people are usually involved to make a difference.

Does this mean that the less talked about issues or individual efforts are unimportant? Of course not. ESG is multi-dimensional and everyone has a role to play in creating a more sustainable world. In fact, individual efforts can sometimes make a bigger impact, especially in the area of the S part (social) in ESG.

The one thing we don’t hear about as often is the topic of social mobility. Social mobility can be defined as the movement of an individual, family or group within a social strata and economic mobility is one example of social mobility that also happens to be often used as the measurement of such movement.

There are many factors that can influence economic mobility and many people believe that education is one of most common factors that can impact one’s economic standing beside family background. While the impact of the education system on a group or class of people’s economic mobility is debatable, the impact of a more personal experience such as mentoring is clearly positive.

The power of mentoring – making a difference one person at a time

In Wharton School professor and bestselling author Adam Grant‘s latest book, Hidden Potential, he presented data and real life examples to explain how we can reach our potential. One of the book’s key takeaways is education (and training) can build our skills and competence, but it is coaching and mentoring that elevate our motivation and confidence to achieve greater things.

If you Google “Mellody Hobson“, you will see that she is a successful businesswoman who is often cited and celebrated for her professional achievements, leadership insights and contribution to society. In her TEDxYouth talk on the importance of financial literacy at the TEDxMidwest conference, she shared that she grew up in a poor family. Despite being poor, she had an excellent support system of friends, family members and mentors who loved and guided her. And Mellody’s grit, work ethics and curiosity certainly set her apart from others. In the book, Adam shared that her life changed when she had the opportunities to meet John Rogers, who taught her about the stock market and eventually became her business partner, and Bill Bradley, a trusted mentor who provided her with candid and constructive feedback throughout her career.

The power of financial literacy – leveraging the Lions Club IFC’s expertise and influence

As an organisation, the Lions Club of IFC is committed to contributing to our communities in big and small ways. Programs such as Lions Dive Against Debris and Charity Move are recent examples of large scale programs that focus on addressing big ticket ESG issues.

Since most of our members have professional certifications and expertise, we also often engage in projects to support youth development and social mobility.

To help youths become more financially literate, we recently partnered with SideBySide (善導會) to educate and mentor youths through their CASH Initiative (青年創意理財互動空間). With the 1:1 mentoring sessions, we aim to provide information as well as encouragement to youths so they can feel empowered to make a difference in their lives.

In closing, everyone is busy these days and there may be a preference to invest your limited volunteering time to participate in large scale projects as they usually come with a lot of excitements. But let us not forget that we can all make a difference in someone’s live simply by spending some time to chat with them.

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