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IMNO.org Opens Professional Mentoring to the World

Provo , Utah – Today a community of young aspiring professionals launched IMNO, the International Mentoring Network Organization, a not-for-profit project aiming to solve the worldwide need for professional mentoring. IMNO makes professional mentors available to everyone for community discussion and makes mentor interviews available via text, audio streaming, audio download (podcasting) for use with portable audio players, and RSS News Feeds.

On the 11th of August 2004, in the UN News Centre (www.un.org/news), the United Nations reported:

Youth unemployment worldwide skyrocketed to an all-time high. Young people aged 15 to 24 represent nearly half of the world’s jobless although they are only 25 per cent of the working age population.

“Unemployment often involves a lack of vision,” said Chris Deaver, Director of IMNO, “In order to succeed, people need to study the guiding principles, habits, and achievements of a number of successful people who have preceded them in the mission of life, particularly in their chosen profession. By applying the skills and characteristics of outstanding examples, the unemployed quickly becomes the successful professional. That is the power of IMNO.”

IMNO encourages individuals to interview successful professionals within their own communities and share that interview with the world instead of just keeping the advice and knowledge for themselves.

Khanyiso Mdalana, from a small township in Tembisa, South Africa affirmed, “I wasn’t able to attend a formal College or University. IMNO gave me a great reason to contact and interview the country director of a large software company,” said Khanyiso Mdalana. “I learned what to do to become an IT professional in South Africa. And it sure helps that I got to know the country director of one of the largest software companies in the world.” After the interview, Khanyiso submitted the transcript to the IMNO website and now the interview is available to everyone.

Traditional mentoring programs are limited to individuals who belong to University Alumni Associations, Industry Associations, etc. IMNO is a Free mentoring network open to anyone no matter where they live, what school they attend, or who they know. In addition, IMNO differs from other mentoring programs by encouraging people to be proactive in their search for professional mentors. IMNO.org allows visitors to submit mentor interviews, apply for interview responsibilities and suggest future mentor inclusions.

“IMNO is so practical, so inspiring, so uplifting, that you need to be part of this. This site will help you become more self-reliant, more capable inside yourself to dig deeper in your education, take the toughest teachers not the easiest and get into a fundamental purpose of making a difference in life and never slowing down,” said Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

“IMNO is an excellent resource for individuals who want to learn what they need to know to achieve success in their professions,” said Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell Inc., “Of course, not everyone is going to be Michael Jordan. The right skills and talent are necessary, (but) after that, your success will depend on how hard you work and whether or not you are willing to do the things that will get you there. If you have those two elements and then get some good mentoring…you can be very successful.”

In addition, traditional mentor programs require a large investment of time on the part of mentors, which has resulted in a shortage of successful professionals willing and available to mentor. The online system developed by IMNO removes these cumbersome requirements by providing mentors with a way to efficiently communicate to thousands of people at once. “IMNO allows me to mentor hundreds of aspiring athletes and other professionals throughout the world,” said Dale Murphy, two-time Major League Baseball MVP.

IMNO seeks to expand throughout the world. IMNO benefits include:

Giving individuals an honorable reason to interview successful professionals within their own communities
Making professional mentor interviews available via text, audio streaming, audio download (podcasting), and RSS News Feeds
Notifying members when new mentor interviews are added to their professional category of choice
Providing a community for individuals to start discussions with professional mentors
Helping mentors make themselves available to a wider audience
Informing mentors whenever members submit comments to their mentor profiles
Performing mentor interviews requested by IMNO community members
Allowing members to suggest questions for future interviews

“In this age of the Internet, we are seeing some new things no one has thought of before. IMNO is certainly one of those things,” said Jeremy Burgon, HR Consultant for Hewitt Associates, “My profession has given me the opportunity to work with many mentoring programs and I haven't seen anything like this.”

Some of the IMNO mentors include:

Jake Garn, former US Senator and Astronaut
Kevin Rollins, CEO Dell Inc.
Julia Hood, Editor-in-Chief of PR Week
Roberto Rivellino, Brazilian Soccer Star
Ellis Mnyandu, Reuters Journalist from South Africa
Nicole Riding, Played Eponine in Les Miserables Broadway Tour
Jack Welch, former CEO of GE
Vai Sikahema, former NFL Player and NBC Sportscaster
Sean Griffin, Chef de Cuisine Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Dale Murphy, two-time MVP Major League Baseball
Bill George, Harvard Professor
Milton Camargo, President of AOL Brazil
Pamela Atkinson, Member of the BMW Bank of North America Board
Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell
Gary Dixon, President of The Foundation for A Better Life
Curt Brinkman, Boston Marathon World Record Holder
Ryan Woodward, Spiderman 2 Storyboard Artist
Bud Greenspan, Award-winning Film Director

“People are looking for ways, other than simply donating money, to help others around the world. Through IMNO, you can help thousands of individuals achieve their potential by sharing your professional knowledge and experience,” said dbm_imno_org, Executive Director of IMNO.

IMNO welcomes support from organizations and individuals around the world to fulfill this mission.

Contact:
dbm_imno_org
Chris Deaver
Jetmir Hysi
International Mentoring Network Organization (IMNO)
ptedjamulia@imno.org
801-361-9942