Jada Aduda, a senior analyst on the strategy and business development team at CME Group, says she jumped at the volunteer opportunity to mentor a high school student needing college-preparation guidance.
Fresh in her mind were memories from her own high school experience when she felt overwhelmed by all the work it takes to apply to and attend college.
“I remember… not really knowing what to do when it came to college, all the logistics of where to go, what to study, how to pay for it. I remember being a fish out of water,” says Aduda, a former CME Group Foundation Scholar who volunteers as a mentor with one of the Foundation’s grantees, iMentor Chicago. “I was super excited and jumped at the opportunity to give back to a student that I could once relate to.”
Formal volunteering at nonprofit organizations can reap benefits for both the recipient and the corporate donor, but it has seen a slump lately, at a time when there is greater need for hands-on giving.
A University of Maryland School of Public Policy Do Good Institute study from 2023 found that the decision to give or volunteer is likely dependent on personal circumstances, social connections and community characteristics. That data may underscore why Aduda found working with iMentor so rewarding: she found a way to help someone in a similar circumstance as she once had been.
Corporate Support Critical
Corporate support of nonprofit organizations, through a combination of grants and formal volunteering, is critical to help these groups reach communities to not only produce positive outcomes, but to build lasting relationships between businesses, volunteers and the organization.
Eric Barbour, Chicago Director of Strategic Initiatives at iMentor, sees these benefits with their partners, like CME Group Foundation. iMentor expanded to Chicago in 2015 and connects high school students with mentors as a way to ensure that younger generations and their families can access economic mobility.
“Mentorship offers a pathway for students from diverse backgrounds to form meaningful relationships with those working in the industry and, perhaps most importantly, those who may have similar backgrounds as them,” says Eva Giglio, Executive Director of CME Group Foundation, noting that during the last school year its partner organizations engaged over 1,500 mentors to support students in postsecondary success. “The Foundation is proud to support organizations like iMentor that are helping to develop today's students into tomorrow's problem-solvers.”
Barbour explains that financial investment is important to sustain an organization’s work, but formal volunteering is just as critical.
“It's one thing for CME to say, ‘hey, we believe in this work. So here is a grant.’ It's another for them to say ‘we believe in this work, and we want your young people to be successful here. We want to see them in these roles, because we truly do believe that they're tomorrow's talent.’ And so, that is true partnership in my mind,” Barbour says.
The results are clear. Since iMentor was established in 1999, it’s helped nearly 42,000 students nationally. Seventy-two percent of iMentor students enroll in college, versus 55% of their peers, and 47% of them finish their education, versus 27% of their peers.
A Mentee’s Experience
Stephanie Sangabriel Rivera, now a computer science student at Trinity Christian College, interned at CME Group before her sophomore year and found the experience “transformative,” as she is the first in her family to pursue a corporate career.
“The experience has helped me develop problem-solving abilities, teamwork, quick adjustment in a fast-paced environment, and helped me break out of my shell when it comes to public speaking,” Rivera wrote on LinkedIn, adding that the internship strengthened her passion for computer science and the business industry. She specifically cited her iMentor mentor, CME Group’s Monisha Mundluru, for her support.
“I had the privilege of meeting Stephanie through iMentor in 2021 when she was a junior at Phoenix STEM Military Academy,” says Mundluru. “It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience to observe and foster her growth through her academic and professional pursuits.”
Giving Back
Aduda says she met her mentee when the student started her junior year in high school. As their relationship developed, Aduda watched her mentee’s growth. Aduda describes a time that had meaning for her: she went to a project exhibition at her mentee’s school where she saw her mentee’s project and was able to meet her teachers, her friends and her boyfriend.
“It was amazing to see her face light up when she saw me [come] into the room and see that I was there to support her,” Aduda says. “It was really cool to just see her in her element and know that I'm trusted in her life like that.”
Tina Lopez, marketing analyst in the product marketing division at CME Group, decided to become a mentor as a way to give back, explaining that mentors have played an important role throughout her career. Lopez joined CME Group in part on the recommendation of a mentor, Virginia McGathey, founder of McGathey Commodities and a member of the Chicago Board of Trade.
“She was the person who really showed a new world to me, the world of finance, the world of how commodities trade, how things work,” Lopez says. “That is something that is really important – because she was willing to share her experiences, I gained valuable knowledge.”
One of Lopez’s two mentees is a CME Group Foundation Scholar, as she once was, and Lopez has helped him explore career ideas and work/life balance. “Taking what I've learned and passing those skill sets to him has been really rewarding, because he's very appreciative of that advice,” Lopez says.
According to Aduda, mentees may be initially intimidated by their mentor and hesitant to ask for help. However, she says, building a relationship is worth the effort on both ends. “I think that mentorship is important because you can essentially be the missing piece in someone's puzzle.”
Giglio is encouraged by both the work iMentor does and the young professionals volunteering their time. “Both Tina and Jada’s journey from CME Group Foundation scholar, to full time employee, to a volunteer mentor has been great to witness,” she says. “I think it says a lot about the importance of investing in the next generation of leaders and the power of giving back.”
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