Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor

Introduction

My Story

My understanding of the power of sponsorship is rooted in my childhood. I grew up in a family of six sisters in a small town in the Welsh mining valleys. In the 1960s, this corner of Britain was a bleak and barren place. Across the coalfield, the collieries were closing down; unemployment hovered at 28 percent. As a girl child, there was not much you could look forward to. Maybe you could marry an unemployed miner? You could always do that.

But my father—very much the working-class bloke—had plans for his daughters. When I was thirteen, he took me by bus to Cambridge to show me the “dreaming spires” of one of Europe’s most beautiful and distinguished universities.

After two days seeing the sights (Kings College Chapel and ...