Gil Katz is Co-Founder and Director of Operations at MentorEase, a mentoring software platform that helps manage mentoring programs at universities and colleges in the USA, Canada, and Australia. He is also the co-author of the upcoming book Managing Mentoring Programs: A Practical Guide to Launching and Growing Mentoring Programs.
1. Tell us about your company and the problem it solves, or its benefit to learners or educators.
MentorEase is mentoring software that helps manage mentoring programs at universities and colleges. Often mentoring connects students with alumni who provide insights about working in their field of interest. Other programs provide peer support and other connections that help students get through challenges. These programs are offered by career centers, student wellness departments, and faculties. While each program may have unique rules and procedures, they generally follow a similar process:
- Mentors and mentees register on a mini-site (or “apply” and wait for admin approval).
- Mentees select from a short list of their best potential mentor matches using a custom matching algorithm tailored to each program. This is typically done by assigning points when mentors and mentees select similar options. Matching can also be handled manually by admins.
- Once matched, the pair can communicate and follow a set of activities, which may include:
- Mentoring checklists – How to prepare for the first meeting, planning, reminders, completion, surveys, and self-assessment.
- Personal journal – For quick notes during or after meetings.
- Goals & Feedback – Define goals, tasks to achieve them, and receive feedback.
- Mentoring resources – Program guides and tips in one-pagers or video format.
- Mentoring checklists – How to prepare for the first meeting, planning, reminders, completion, surveys, and self-assessment.
Student programs typically run in cohorts for 6 or 12 months. Some programs are ongoing, allowing participants to join at any time throughout the year. These often operate as an “Alumni Hub,” where students can connect with alumni who volunteer to support them.
An admin panel allows program managers to track activities, send mass emails, handle special cases, and generate reports.
2. What is the challenge educators face today that is fixable?
The state of mentoring in higher education varies:
- Advanced – Universities with many mentoring programs, centrally managed using mentoring software with multiple admin roles per program. These programs may include:
- Student Career Mentoring – Matching students with alumni
- Peer Student Mentoring – Matching students with each other
- Alumni Career Mentoring – Matching recent graduates with experienced alumni
- Student-Faculty Mentoring – Connecting students with professors for guidance
- Department-specific programs – e.g., in business, law, engineering, or medicine
- Pre-Registration Mentoring – Connecting potential students with ambassadors
- Student Career Mentoring – Matching students with alumni
- Medium – Schools with a few programs, each managed separately. Some use software, others rely on Excel. Once a program grows to around 100 participants, it becomes difficult to manage manually. A mentoring platform becomes necessary but may not be adopted widely across the institution.
- Basic – One or two small programs managed manually by a part-time staff member. These can function without software while under 100 participants, typically using Excel.
- New – Institutions still planning their first mentoring programs and exploring management options.
As these programs grow, implementing a comprehensive software platform can automate many tasks and save significant manual effort.
3. What is the challenge educators face today that will persist?
Mentoring will always play a vital role in education, offering students unique career insights – especially as they approach graduation. Learning from professionals in their field helps students better understand real-world work beyond academic theory.
One consistent challenge is finding the best mentor for each student. Traditionally, this meant manually reviewing resumes – an extremely time-consuming task. Today, mentoring software and emerging AI tools can streamline and improve this process.
Some ways software can help:
- Single Sign-On (SSO) – Students can log in with existing university accounts; alumni can use LinkedIn. This also helps maintain alumni engagement as they change email addresses.
- Auto-populated registration forms – Pulling data from SSO or LinkedIn simplifies sign-up. Generative AI can even create short bios from resumes.
- Mentor sourcing tools – Generate alumni lists based on specific LinkedIn criteria. Admins can verify and shortlist potential mentors efficiently.
- Matching algorithms – Highlight the most compatible mentors for each mentee.
- Automated emails – Remind mentees to choose mentors and notify mentors of pending requests.
Automated reports – Track progress and engagement, and demonstrate ROI to stakeholders.
4. What areas of education, training, or workforce development are being overlooked?
Universities often offer some types of mentoring, but many other valuable opportunities remain untapped, such as:
- Recruitment – Supporting potential students
- New student support – Ambassador programs to aid in transition and retention
- Student success – Matching students with peers or based on niche interests
- Diversity & inclusion – Expanding support for underrepresented groups
- Alumni programs – Short- and long-term mentoring from alumni
- Work-integrated learning – Courses with workplace components
- Internship programs – Adding mentorship at partner companies
- Startup support – Mentoring through campus-linked accelerators
- Faculty and staff mentoring – Onboarding and supporting new hires
Supporting all campus community members requires planning, budgeting, and staffing. Mentoring software is a key enabler, especially when considering cost savings and scalability.
5. What do you foresee as a challenge in education in three to five years?
In the next 3–5 years, mentoring programs will become more sophisticated as student demand rises. Institutions will aim to add more programs, increase engagement, and track outcomes more effectively.
As AI, robotics, and generational shifts reshape the economy, direct conversations with professionals will become increasingly vital for students. The speed of change will widen the gap between theory and reality. Mentoring will bridge this gap by offering:
- Structured access to experts – Students are often hesitant to approach professionals directly. A structured mentoring program lowers that barrier.
- Support in competitive job markets – In some technical fields, entry-level roles are vanishing as companies favor highly skilled hires. Mentoring connects students with industry experts who can advise on tools and skills to become job-ready.
More personalized opportunities – Students will expect universities to help them find tailored experiences. A solid mentoring infrastructure – complete with long- and short-term options, group mentoring, and alumni engagement – will be key.
