Mentoring is one of the most powerful ways our firm helps close that gap. Across multiple initiatives—from supporting professionals over 50 to backing young people, entrepreneurs, and trauma survivors—mentoring lets colleagues use their skills, judgment, and lived experience to create outcomes beyond our firm.
ReStart: a decade of volunteering that changes direction
Our UK mentoring program, ReStart, reflects this commitment in action. We created the program in 2017 in partnership with The Executive Coaching Consultancy (ECC). ReStart supports unemployed people over 50 to reenter and reposition themselves in today’s labor market. Now a decade in operation, the program has helped 240 people, with a blend of coaching, mentoring, and practical workshops to rebuild confidence, refresh skills, and address systemic barriers such as age bias and outdated recruitment practices.
Geraldine Gallacher, CEO at The Executive Coaching Consultancy, said: “Ageism in the work force is a problem that’s growing in significance and the ECC coaches know just how to help the participants find their confidence and courage again. It’s truly inspiring to be a coach on this program. I have personally coached a number of the participants, and I always come away somehow edified by the experience.”
Each year, our colleagues volunteer as mentors. They form one to one professional relationships with participants who are dealing with redundancy, caring responsibilities, or long periods of exclusion from work. The impact is measurable—and human. As outlined in our 2025 cohort report, participant confidence increased by 61%, perceived barriers to employment halved, and 67% secured work or meaningful opportunities within three months.
As Sue Wisbey, founder of the ReStart program, explains “ReStart was built on a simple belief that experience and age should never be a barrier to opportunity. Every year we see participants rediscover their confidence, reshape their ambitions, and step back into the workplace with renewed purpose.”
One participant, Noelle, said: “[ReStart] helped me to re-evaluate my priorities and career path, perhaps to be more realistic and to realize I’m not alone. It has changed my career—I am now a civil servant and that was a positive change for me.”
Another, David, added “Firstly, the program fundamentally gave me back my self-respect and dignity, in the sense that I learnt I can still add value. I now have a renewed tenacity and foundation of self-belief, which I still draw upon even today.”
Mentoring as a two way exchange
What distinguishes ReStart, and our wider mentoring approach, is its reciprocity. We don’t position mentoring as charity. It’s a shared journey grounded in listening, encouragement, and trust.
Our volunteer mentors consistently report that the experience develops their own skills and sense of purpose. They strengthen their coaching capability, empathy and perspective. These qualities matter as much in leadership as they do in social impact.
ReStart mentor and senior global mobility manager, Hélène Mottais, said “Watching another person’s confidence and self belief grow has been incredibly rewarding. The progress our mentees have made in just a few months has been inspiring and I feel proud to have played a small part in their journey.”
This two way value is a deliberate design choice, ensuring that volunteering enriches both communities and the firm itself.
We’re extending mentoring beyond ReStart
ReStart sits within a broader portfolio of mentoring initiatives that reflect A&O Shearman’s global reach and our commitment to inclusive opportunity.
Through our partnership with Grow Movement, our volunteers work with entrepreneurs in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, and the Philippines. The program pairs entrepreneurs with volunteer coaches who provide structured, business-leadership focused mentoring across multiple stages, helping participants build resilient enterprises. Evidence shows that sales can increase by up to 27% and up to 52% when marketing-focused, following the program, demonstrating how skills based volunteering can contribute directly to economic empowerment and poverty reduction.
Dickson Kisakye, a restaurant owner in Kigali, Rwanda, said “The coaching, spanning from kitchen costing to human resource management, has significantly bolstered the efficiency, and overall performance of our restaurant.”
In Europe, colleagues participate in Amsterdam’s Giving Back mentoring program, which supports young people from secondary school through to master’s level over a 12 month period.
Ali Sahraifar, A&O Shearman associate, said “For me, Giving Back represents a fundamental first step in enabling the next generation from historically underrepresented backgrounds to have an equal chance to achieve their academic and professional goals, topics that still need attention.”
We also work in partnership with Romaversitas Foundation, a support and training program for talented young Roma people in Hungary. As part of the program, we mentor secondary school students to help prepare them for law university admission and future careers.
In Singapore, we are a founding partner of HCSA’s STEP UP initiative, which supports trauma survivors and ex offenders through structured mentoring, skills development, and community connection. Since 2022, the program has matched more than 70 volunteers from 12 corporates with nearly 50 participants. This is helping strengthen self belief, social ties and readiness to reenter community life.
Clarence Lee, director, partnerships and strategic communications at HCSA Community Services, said “A&O Shearman has been instrumental in strengthening the STEP UP mentorship initiative. The firm’s volunteers consistently show up with empathy, professionalism and a genuine belief in second chances—helping create an environment where our mentees feel seen, supported and empowered to rebuild their lives with confidence.”
A long term view of responsible business
We’ve built these initiatives through a consistent approach: mentoring that is sustained, skills based, and designed around specific needs. Whether supporting experienced professionals facing age bias, young people finding direction, entrepreneurs growing businesses, or individuals rebuilding after trauma, our mentoring programs share a common thread—a belief in people’s capacity to adapt and thrive when given the right support.
As ReStart welcomes its tenth cohort, it stands as a reminder that meaningful impact is rarely created overnight. It comes from long term commitment, trusted partnerships, and volunteers willing to invest time, care, and expertise. In a changing world of work, mentoring remains one of the most powerful ways our firm helps ensure that opportunity is not limited by circumstance—and that experience, in all its forms, continues to count.
FAQs
Why is mentoring important to A&O Shearman?
Mentoring is a big part of our responsible business strategy. It lets staff use their professional skills to help people who face barriers. The goal is to create fairer routes into work, education, and economic opportunity—beyond just benefiting us internally.
What is the ReStart program?
ReStart is our UK mentoring program for unemployed people over 50. It combines mentoring, coaching, and practical workshops to rebuild confidence, update skills, and address age bias in recruitment, supporting participants to reenter and reposition themselves in today’s labor market.
What impact does ReStart have?
ReStart delivers measurable and lasting outcomes. In the 2025 cohort, participant confidence increased by 61%, perceived barriers to employment halved, and 67% secured work or meaningful opportunities within three months. Participants also report renewed momentum, clearer direction, and stronger belief in their professional value.
How do A&O Shearman colleagues benefit from volunteering as mentors?
Mentoring is designed as a two way experience. Colleagues consistently report that mentoring strengthens skills such as listening, coaching, and empathy, while offering a sense of purpose beyond day to day work.
What other mentoring programs does A&O Shearman support?
Alongside ReStart, A&O Shearman supports mentoring globally through structured mentoring programs, including initiatives with entrepreneurs in Africa and Southeast Asia, support for young people, and support for trauma survivors and ex offenders.
