We know you’re really busy and so we try to keep the time asked of you to a minimum.

Mentoring in October 2026 – Approx 1-2 Hours

Between October 23rd and November 2nd Mentors will be be able to see the persona profiles that have been shared with them by the teams assigned to them through their bespoke dashboards. Our B!G Mentors typically spend a couple of hours reviewing these and offering some encouragement, suggestions and/or resources.

Mentoring in January 2027 – Approx 2-3 Hours

Between January 11th and January 25th  Mentors will be sent the next phase of these ideas. At this point the teams will have nailed down their line of thinking and will be working towards a definite goal. Our B!G Mentors typically spend 2-3 hours working through their projects. With your personal dashboard, the where and the when is up to you.

Project Review in March 2027– Approx 1-2 Hours
The final phase will take place between March 19th and April 5th. B!G Mentors can put on their judging hats as they receive their students’ B!G solutions to local and global challenges. Lots of support is provided for you at this point. This is an exciting time to see how your support has contributed to the students’ experience of The B!G Idea process and their incredible B!G Ideas.

Think B!G Fest, May 2027 (TBC)
This is a totally optional but amazing opportunity to bring the B!G community together and recognise the achievements of our superstar students! The event combines an Accelerator-type workshop with lots of awards and the chance to celebrate the B!G Impact you’ve supported. It’s definitely one for the diary.

Mentors will be notified during the mentoring window when the students have uploaded their submissions to  their dashboards.

There are three main windows: October/December and March.

You will be sent an email by one of The B!G Idea team to make sure you know that your student submissions have been uploaded. We are working hard behind the scenes to make sure your student teams get a diverse range of Mentors.

We understand that life sometimes gets in the way and you may not be able to take part in all mentoring and judging activities during the programme. If this situation does occur and you need to cancel once signed up, you will continue to be charged up until the end of the 12-month period. Your contribution will directly support student spaces on the programme and once committed it cannot be refunded. To cancel any aspect of your commitment to the programme, email: mentors@thebigidea.ie

Each student and teacher receives all the learning materials required when they start the programme. They contain all the elements they need to help them on this creative learning journey. One of the founding principles of The B!G Idea is inclusivity. We want to give the opportunity to every student to have access to the equipment they need so they can experience The B!G Idea equally.

Our Think B!G classroom packs (packed with love) include:

• Journal looking forward to being filled
• Pen for purpose
• Pencil of power
• Post-it notes to capture B!G Ideas
• Lego (yes Lego, lots of systems thinking opportunities)
• Creativity glasses ( for empathy tasks and more)
• Craft tape – for thinking activities
• Pencil case (for guess what)
• The B!G Idea project briefs overview
• And more…

• Our Future – Empower a student with creative thinking skills for life.
• Mentor – Share your experience and expertise to open ears.
• Learn – Engage with the next wave of future innovators, a great touch point for future thinking.
• Judge – See the projects and experience the impact you have made in their development.
• Bio – Control your story with a new dashboard feature on our website with your bio and headshot.
• PR Machine – Choose to get directly involved with our PR roll out, blog series and mentor social frames.
• AGM – Vote and get involved in the development of The B!G Idea.
• Network- Build connections with like-minded individuals, be a part of a network of industry heavy hitters.
• Profile – Be showcased as a B!G Mentor in Ireland and internationally.
• Community – Collaborate with peers in a curated community space and events.
• Proud and Loud – Display your involvement with a badge of honour.
• Proven Impact – Get your own bespoke impact report detailing how you made a real difference in Ireland.

Take some time to go through your dashboard and get to know it. This will be your hub of information throughout the year. The B!G Idea team will host an online information session especially for mentors so try to come along to that and there’s a B!G Idea guide on your dashboard which is full of all the information you need – dates, times, how-to’s, what-not’s and who’s who!

We’d love to be at the top of your inbox but our welcome emails can sometimes go astray – rule of thumb, always check your junk mail! Still can’t find it then just get in touch on mentors@thebigidea.ie and we can get it sorted.

Our students work in project teams and typically our B!G Mentors will work with 5-6 teams giving written feedback, advice and general support to students through our bespoke mentoring platform.

You will be part of a community of awesome people and The B!G Idea team is never too far – just an email or a message away! Your Partner Lead is also a B!G Guru and has been supplied with all information so check in with them.

We have designed a super simple mentoring system with lots of tips on how best to support students through The B!G Idea process. We have guidelines on moving through the various grading bands and how best to communicate feedback to our superstar students.

We will also host an online Mentor information session where you can meet The B!G Idea team and other B!G Mentors, get some guidance on how to mentor and ask any questions you might have. We love a good Q&A! All access details will be on your personal B!G Mentor dashboard

It’s a really easy process. You’ll simply log into your B!G Mentor dashboard and check out the final projects as and when you want (there will be a deadline which we will let you know about). We’ll provide tips, great project examples and a really easy to use grading system. Don’t worry if you have never judged before! You can even select a potential B!G winner and leave some words of wisdom and support for our students!

Nope – you can just be a Mentor or wear both hats – up to you! You have the control over how much you get involved and you can change your settings at any time on your personal B!G Idea dashboard.

This year we hope to add even more opportunities for Mentors to support schools; watch this space as we will be working with schools to see if this can happen.

Sure, we would love that. In fact, why not get the whole team involved, we have lots of mentoring teams! Mentoring the next generation, empowering them with the world’s most in-demand skills, helping them to create impactful projects locally and globally – how could they not want to get involved?

There are oodles of benefits to your company in getting employees involved – employee engagement, social impact, learning and personal development and of course, empowering the next generation of employees!

Get in touch with us on mentors@thebigidea.ie and let us know your company name, who to talk to (or even better introduce us) and we can take it from there.

In one word…yes! At The B!G Idea we like to define a B!G Mentor as anyone who has professional experience in creative or critical thinking and problem solving, who wants to support and empower students across Ireland to develop these vital skills.

You’ll get all the additional support you need along the way. You know what they say, there’s no ‘I’ in team and that’s what we are here at The B!G Idea! We are lucky to have people from a range of industries and roles, from recent graduates right up to CEO level!

If you’re still unsure and want to have a chat with one of the team, just drop us a line on mentors@thebigidea.ie or follow us on social media to sign up for one of our B!G Hello events when they go live and come and meet the team!

The more the merrier! If they want to invest in the next generation and impart their creativity and innovation wisdom to our students, we welcome them with open arms.

To get you signed up we just need:

• Name
• Email
• LinkedIn URL
• Some information around your gender, age, job role and industry

Once you are on board, we’ll prompt you to fill out the rest of the information needed on your dashboard. This includes:

• Preferred category for mentoring
• Communication preferences
• Bio – Your professional story (students love checking out their Mentors)
• Headshot (preferably your face – we did get a back of a head once. Haha!)

Your information will be hosted on our secure website and will be controlled by you. You can change your preferences and update your own information at any time. We will see your preferences so we can assign you projects and be able to get in touch to arrange PR opportunities (if you want – you will love it!).

As an all Ireland programme it’s of particular interest for Irish people based in Ireland or abroad but we actively welcome (and even seek out) mentors from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and social classes – we want a true reflection of Ireland and the world today in our B!G mentor panel.

Absolutely! Our B!G Mentors really do provide a vital link between our students, their communities and Industry. We like to shout loud and proud about The B!G Idea and encourage our Mentors to do the same. Through your personal dashboard we provide you with all the tools you need to display your involvement on social media with a (literal) badge of honour!

Feel free to add your mentoring role on LinkedIn! You’re doing great things, don’t be shy about it (it also helps us to spread the word…win win!)

If you are not getting the emails to reset your password please email mentors@thebigidea.ie and we can sort it out for you.