TWO Shadow To Shine mentees secure positions at award-winning PR agency MWWPR

We are so proud to share the news that not one, but TWO members of Shadow To Shine’s youth network have just secured exciting new jobs at the London branch of award-winning PR agency, MWWPR. The roles come as a result of Shadow To Shine’s special industry-focused youth groups, who we carefully match to relevant opportunities that arise with our partner organisations.

Anderayo Yusuf (Rayo, 22) and Elede Alemayehu (22) both joined Shadow To Shine’s virtual mentoring programme back in October, when we had opened up the scheme to young people looking to connect with professionals in their industries of interest – but faced barriers in doing so - in response to the ongoing pandemic.

Rayo joined Shadow To Shine having recently graduated with an interest in communications roles, hoping to one day work on the high-profile brands she has grown up admiring. As the first member of her family to have gone to university, Rayo is more than familiar with working hard to achieve her goals. Throughout university and since graduating, Rayo has been producing exceptional quality written and digital work for various organisations but had been struggling to find something long-term.

On a similar path though still completing her studies, Elede joined our network with no prior work experience and a dream of entering the PR and Marketing industry. Her university course has helped grow her interest in experiential campaigns and events. She just needs a professional environment to explore this further within. After utilising Shadow To Shine’s 121 Career Service, Elede turned round an impressive application when the opportunity with MWWPR arose.

Both mentees have ongoing partnerships with mentors who are helping them with career insight, building confidence and general mindset in reaching goals. Yet first-hand work experience is still rare to come by, which is why we’re always on the lookout for opportunities through our partners. MWWPR London is a friend of Shadow To Shine and a supporter of our mission. The team works on a whole host of exciting clients, including some of the biggest names in the media, tech and consumer lifestyle space, including Brand Advance, Shutterstock, Sky Media and Wahl. Initially on the hunt for a single media monitoring assistant, MWWPR were so impressed with our mentee applicants they decided to create two new roles: Junior Account Executive for Rayo, and PR Intern for Elede. The hires come as we approach what we hope will be the tail end of the pandemic, which has had devastating effects on youth employment. Moreover, the past year has been pivotal in ushering forth a new wave of activity addressing equality and diversity initiatives across every sector, a cause which MWWPR champions both internally and on behalf of its clients and one that is at the core of Shadow To Shine’s mission. Rayo and Elede start this month and will be supporting the team in delivering a first-class client service and learning the inner workings of agency life. We can’t wait to hear how things progress. Congratulations, Rayo & Elede!