Mentoring program for students of the Universities project

The Kellner Family Foundation has joined forces with Katka Smolárová and Adam Kolesa, graduates from foreign universities who offer mentoring assistance to students included in the Universities project.

Katka’s and Adam’s offer includes the following opportunities:
By keeping in touch with your mentor on a regular basis you can take a look at the world outside the Czech Republic through different eyes, and think through what you like to do and what this means when contemplating your future. A mentor can be a source of information, ideas, and links to other people.

What you can expect
If you join the mentoring program expect regular contacts with your mentor (in person or over Skype) about once per month. Mentoring relationships work best when you prepare a topic that currently worries you, and also discussions on which you would like to spend some time.

Who we are


Katka Smolárová
Following secondary school in Bratislava, I left for London to take a bachelor’s program in mathematics. I then spent one year in Oxford where I focused on financial economics. After this I found a job in Prague at McKinsey. However, two years later the spirit of learning descended on me, and so I am now studying for an MBA at Harvard.
 

Adam Kolesa
I would like to share with you my experience with studying abroad, both under the Erasmus program and on my own. I have bachelor degrees in economics and diplomacy in Prague and Madrid. I then received my master’s degree in Edinburgh, Scotland. After graduation, I joined McKinsey consultancy, where I spent two years as an analyst, and then left for Singapore for one year to take an MBA program. I am back at McKinsey again, this time as a project manager.

Why we do it
We have spent some time abroad. Looking back we see that it would have frequently helped us had we known someone who could have given us advice on the basis of their own experience. We would therefore be happy to provide this opportunity to others, thereby perhaps helping them avoid the mistakes that we have done.

If you want to use mentoring assistance provided by Katka or Adam, please e-mail us at horinkova@kellnerfoundation.cz