Mentors and students celebrate Mentoring Pathways 2024-25

Running for over a decade, Mentoring Pathways pairs final-year students with mentors – from our valued alumni and corporate partners - to provide them with guidance and support for their professional development.

In this year’s programme, 130 students received tailored support from mentors - equating to approximately 2,600 hours of mentorship provided by volunteers.

To mark the end of the 2024-25 Mentoring Pathways programme, up to 50 mentors, mentees, Birkbeck staff members and guests attended the celebration event, held at Woburn House, on Tuesday, 1 July.

Hosting the event, Professor Daniel Monk, Professor of Law at Birkbeck, who has been a fantastic advocate for the programme, said: “Mentoring Pathways is really remarkable and it’s wonderful to have an opportunity to celebrate it and everybody who makes it possible and contributes to its ongoing success.

“I’ve seen first-hand the transformative effect that the programme has had on students. One of my mentees said the mentoring gave her confidence, which is a key skill for social mobility, which is really important at Birkbeck.”

The occasion also saw the presentation of the Mentoring Pathways awards, which recognise the outstanding progress, achievements and dedication of our amazing mentors and mentees.

This year’s winners, kindly nominated by their mentoring partners, are:

• Mentor of the Year: Phill Collins, a Business Development Director (MSc Organizational Behaviour, 2011). Phill has volunteered on Mentoring Pathways for eight years. As part of the nomination, Phill’s mentee wrote: “His advice is always easy-going and hands-on, making complex challenges feel manageable.”
• Mentee of the Year: Zhuoxin Han, who is studying LLB Law. As part of the nomination, Han’s mentor wrote: “Han has grown in confidence and clarity. She has developed a deeper understanding of her goals and strengths and has made visible progress toward them.”
• Mentor of the Year (runner-up): Paul Raffield, Emeritus Professor in legal history, law and literature and critical legal studies at the University of Warwick. He completed a PhD in law at Birkbeck in 2001. As part of the nomination, Paul’s mentee wrote: “Paul possesses an incredible talent for helping others learn to plan effectively and understand the true weight of life's important decisions.’
• Mentee of the Year (runner-up): Liubov Zozulia, who is studying MSc Banking and Finance. As part of the nomination, Liubov’s mentor wrote: “Liubov has demonstrated a commitment to lifelong learning through her ongoing studies at Birkbeck while working in a significant role, as well as her willingness to learn through the mentoring process and be receptive to different ways of doing things.”

Phill Collins, who won the Mentor of the Year award, gave his advice to current mentees: “As mentees, you have to take action, you have to take that step forward. Do not ever underestimate the value of your lived experience and what that might mean to someone else. If you are a mentee this year, I would love to see all of you as mentors next year.”

Zhuoxin Han, the winner of the Mentee of the Year award, said: “As an international student studying law, navigating the UK, academic and professional environment felt both exciting and overwhelming. I joined Mentoring Pathways because I was looking for guidance and someone who could help me bridge the gap between where I am and where I hope to be.

“Through my mentor’s guidance, I have learnt how to set clearer goals, how to position my unique background and strengths and how to stay focused when I have self-doubt.”