Help power our Intotech mentoring experience. Brightside is calling on 700 technology professionals across the UK to become mentors as part of IntoTech, an ambitious new mentoring programme designed to help young people from underrepresented backgrounds explore and access careers in the technology sector.
National tech mentoring programme launches to open up careers in technology.
The initiative will connect hundreds of young people aged 14–16 with professionals working across the UK’s thriving tech industry, providing the guidance, insight and encouragement that can transform career aspirations into reality.
As demand for digital skills continues to grow, IntoTech aims to tackle one of the industry’s biggest challenges: ensuring that opportunities in technology are accessible to everyone, regardless of background.
What Is IntoTech?
Right now, thousands of young people across the UK are bright, capable, and curious about technology. But they’ve never met anyone who actually works in the sector. They’ve never heard: “You can do this too.”
That’s why Brightside is connecting 700 technology professionals with young people aged 14–16 who want to explore careers in tech but don’t know where to start, as part of the IntoTech programme from Futures For All.
Over 12 weeks on the UK’s safest online mentoring platform, more than 2,000 young people from UK schools will choose their own technology professional to act as a mentor and engage in real conversations about careers.
Through one-to-one mentoring conversations, young people can ask the questions that career websites and job descriptions rarely answer:
- What does a typical day in this role look like?
- How did you get your first job in tech?
- What qualifications or skills are needed?
- Can someone with my background succeed in this industry?
- What opportunities are available beyond coding and software development?
The programme is delivered through Brightside’s secure, moderated online mentoring platform, allowing mentors and mentees to connect flexibly from anywhere in the UK. Comprehensive safeguarding measures, training and ongoing guidance support every mentoring relationship.
Why the UK Tech Sector Needs More Diverse Talent
The UK technology industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy, creating thousands of opportunities in areas such as:
- Software Engineering
- Data Science and Analytics
- Artificial Intelligence
- Cyber Security
- Product Management
- UX and Digital Design
- IT Support
- Cloud Computing
- Technology Sales
- Digital Operations
Yet despite its growth, the sector remains significantly underrepresented by people from lower-income backgrounds, women and many ethnic minority communities.
The issue is not a lack of talent. It is often a lack of access.
Many young people never meet someone working in technology. They may not have professional networks, industry contacts or role models who can help them understand how to break into the sector. As a result, highly capable young people can overlook careers they would otherwise thrive in.
Research consistently shows that exposure to relatable role models and industry professionals can have a profound impact on career confidence and decision-making.
That’s where mentoring makes a difference.
The power of one conversation
A single conversation with someone already working in technology can change the trajectory of a young person’s future.
When young people hear honest stories about career journeys, setbacks, opportunities and success, they gain something invaluable: belief that a career in technology is achievable for them.
Mentoring helps young people:
- Build confidence and career awareness
- Understand pathways into technology roles
- Develop professional networks
- Explore future opportunities
- Challenge limiting assumptions about who belongs in tech
For mentors, the experience is equally rewarding.
By sharing knowledge and lived experience, technology professionals can help shape the next generation of diverse talent while developing their own communication, leadership and coaching skills.
Join the IntoTech programme – 700 tech mentors wanted across the UK
To meet growing demand from schools, colleges and youth organisations nationwide, Brightside is recruiting 700 mentors over the next six months.
Recent graduates, early-career professionals, mid-level specialists and senior leaders all have valuable perspectives to share. Often, young people benefit enormously from speaking with someone who has recently navigated the challenges of entering the industry themselves.
A flexible volunteering opportunity for technology professionals
One of the strengths of IntoTech is its flexibility.
Mentors commit approximately one to two hours per week for three to six months, communicating with their mentee via Brightside’s secure platform.
There are no lesson plans to create, no presentations to deliver and no requirement to teach technical skills.
Instead, mentors share their experiences, answer questions and help young people understand what a career in technology can look like.
Training takes around one hour to complete, and mentors can begin whenever they are ready.
“Talent Is Everywhere. Opportunity Isn’t.”
IntoTech is built on a simple belief:
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t.
The programme exists to bridge that gap by connecting young people with the insight, encouragement and networks that can unlock future careers.
Every mentoring conversation helps level the playing field, ensuring that access to opportunity is not determined by geography, income or existing connections.
Partnering to create greater access to tech careers
IntoTech is delivered in partnership with Futures For All, whose expertise in widening participation and improving access to opportunity helps ensure the programme reaches young people who stand to benefit most.
Working with schools, colleges and community organisations across the UK, Futures For All brings extensive experience in engaging young people from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in higher education and professional careers.
The programme is generously funded by The Hg Foundation, whose mission to improve access to education and careers in technology makes this initiative possible at no cost to mentors or mentees.
Together, these partnerships are helping build a stronger, more inclusive pipeline of future technology talent.
Calling on employers to join the movement
Brightside is also inviting employers across the UK technology sector to become corporate partners.
Organisations can support IntoTech by encouraging employees to volunteer as mentors as part of their social impact, CSR and employee engagement programmes.
Participating companies gain an opportunity to:
- Support diversity and inclusion in technology
- Strengthen employee volunteering programmes
- Develop future talent pipelines
- Create measurable social impact
- Demonstrate commitment to social mobility
As the coalition of partners grows, so too will the programme’s ability to reach more young people across the country.
How to get involved?
Work in Technology?
Become an IntoTech mentor and help inspire the next generation of technology professionals.
The commitment is flexible, the training is straightforward, and the impact can be life-changing.
Represent an Employer?
Partner with Brightside and empower your employees to support young people through mentoring.
Know a Young Person Who Could Benefit?
Referrals through schools, colleges and youth organisations will open in July, creating opportunities for young people across the UK to access industry insight and career support.
About Brightside
Brightside is a UK charity that has been delivering safe, online one-to-one mentoring for more than 25 years.
By connecting young people with relatable role models and industry professionals, Brightside helps individuals make informed decisions about education, careers and their futures.
With IntoTech, Brightside is taking another major step towards ensuring that every young person, regardless of background, has access to the opportunities, networks and support they need to succeed in the modern economy.
Ready to make an impact? Register your interest today using the link below and join hundreds of technology professionals already helping to inspire the next generation. Sign up HERE.
