Moncton, NB, March 12, 2014: The Mentra Co-operative Ltd (The Mentra) was officially incorporated last week by a group of New Brunswick economic development and innovation system stakeholder organizations (the working group) to support the creation of a mentorship model that strengthens and fosters capacity in the province while making connections to regional, national and international networks.

“Our vision is creating the most credible, connected and sustainable community of mentors in the world,” said Doug Robertson, president and CEO of Tech South East and chair of The Mentra working group. “We aim to grow mentorship capacity to advance business growth in New Brunswick.”

The stakeholders, as part of this working group, are uniquely positioned to build a program that not only serves the province, but can be first-to-market in its modeling, programming, collective approach and reach. Similar to many start-ups that the program seeks to serve, the program will be developed as a born-global export-ready initiative attracting a range of entrepreneurs across the broader community.

The working group is composed of nine organizations providing initial governance, namely, Tech South East, BioNB, New Brunswick Business Council, Planet Hatch, Pond-Deshpande Centre, New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network, Wallace McCain Institute, New Brunswick Community College and Dr. J. Herbert Smith Centre for Technology, Management and Entrepreneurship. The working group is also benefiting from the support of Propel ICT – Launch36, 21inc, Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick, and New Brunswick Information Technology Council for the design and structure of the mentorship program.

Meaghan Seagrave, executive director of BioNB and member of The Mentra working group, said “Like other organizations supporting economic development in NB, BioNB is often calling on the same mentors to help grow businesses in our sector. The Mentra program will develop a world class pool of mentors and become the Centre of Expertise for Mentoring.”

Note: The Mentra is hiring an Executive Director. To apply, please go to CareerBeacon. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2014.

For further information, please contact Marie Jo Thibault (506.650.6111; info@thementra.com).