CollegeVine, a Cambridge MA startup has just raised 3.1 million dollars to recruit college students to serve as mentors and admissions coaches to high school students on a fee paid basis.
While mentoring in the startup world is generally done on a volunteer basis through incubators, accelerators, and university entrepreneur programs, there’s nothing in the dictionary definition that connotes it must be free.
Simple Definition of mentor
: someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person
Source: Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary
But here’s another definition that gives me pause.
men·tor
ˈmenˌtôr,ˈmenˌtər/
noun
1. an experienced and trusted adviser.
“he was her friend and mentor until his death in 1915”
synonyms: adviser, guide, guru, counselor, consultant; confidant(e)
Can you be “trusted” if you are a hired gun?
Perhaps these students should be called “coaches” since coaches are often paid, especially college sports coaches.
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