Connecting and Growing Women Through Mentorship

Welcome to OneUpOneDown, where mentorship is a catalyst for ongoing transformational learning and development experiences tailored for women in business and technology fields.

We’ve developed a unique methodology and cutting-edge technology to enable women worldwide to connect, learn, and lead through mentorship relationships. Our system is designed with an understanding of what women need to cultivate careers aligned with the lives they envision and the impact they seek to make.

Our mission is to empower women by fostering confidence, encouraging the expression of unique perspectives, and uncovering and developing new strengths within mentor and mentee relationships.

OneUpOneDown Methodology

Near-peer mentorship

We make matches based on near-peer mentorship, so mentors are just a couple of life stages ahead of mentees. This form of mentoring results in highly relevant advice and enhances both the mentor and mentee’s ability to relate to one another, learn & grow. Each match lasts three months so mentor and mentee can work together over time to create a trusted relationship and experience outcomes together. 

Optimising the learning curve

Our goal at OneUpOneDown was to create a system that could successfully match millions of women worldwide in transformative mentor-mentee relationships. We aimed to design an engagement format that maximised the benefits of strong connections between dedicated mentors and mentees while minimising the challenges of less committed participants. Our objective was to establish a method that ensured focused matches, maintaining sufficient interaction points for mentors and mentees to collaboratively build a meaningful narrative of progress without overwhelming commitments.

 After careful consideration, we decided on 3-month long matches, consisting of four meetings in total. This structure includes two meetings in the first month and one in each of the last two months. This simple yet highly effective approach strikes a balance, fostering a conducive environment for mentorship without risking an overload of interactions. After one match ends, mentors and mentees can be rematched for a new learning experience.

Removing uncertainty & building mentorship confidence

In our commitment to ensuring a seamless and gratifying experience for both mentors and mentees, it was imperative to eliminate the friction that might arise when individuals attempt to establish mentorship relationships. This has been accomplished through the implementation of an automated matchmaking system, presenting one suitable match at a time, and the establishment of clear guidelines for engagement.

In addition to these measures, we provide a wealth of resources, guides, and training to bolster mentors and mentees in their respective roles. This comprehensive support system is designed to cultivate confidence in their ability to both give and receive mentorship. Ultimately, our aim is to empower individuals to effectively learn and grow within their mentorship relationships.

Automating manual tasks and essential touch points

Our beautiful software system automates all the manual tasks essential for establishing and managing a mentorship program. This includes the entire process of making matches, facilitating communications, providing access to resources, and efficiently collecting and sharing information.

Serving the needs of ambitious women

Addressing the learning and development needs of women that are not being met in their workplaces

Although female participation is growing in traditionally male-dominated workplaces, senior management and decision making is still overwhelmingly male. When you scratch the surface of most organisations, you’ll find that they’re based on male values and behaviours, for the most part without even realising it. The way they operate, work, communicate, and recognise value is tied to a male perspective.

So now, despite the shift toward encouraging more female participation in leadership and traditionally male-dominated industries, there’s still a lot of work to do to support the women who step into these spaces and operate and lead authentically.

We connect women to support each other to realise our full potential

Our solution enables women to thrive, create impact and add value with their work in a way that’s authentic to them – women focused near-peer mentorship. There are certain problems women face that are best understood by connecting with other women.

With the backing of like-minded mentors, women can more confidently take their place and grow within even a challenging environment, as well as gaining the validation needed to understand that their perspectives and experiences are valuable.

Our experience is modelled off of near-peer mentorship because we have seen firsthand how successful it can be and the positive impact it can have, when facilitated effectively.

Our story

We came together through mentorship 
and everything changed

The story of OneUpOneDown is the story of four women and how their connections to one another sparked an idea that could help other women across the world.

From recognising the challenge, to developing a hypothesis, and coming up with an early matching strategy, our core mission has remained the same since day one: empower women to achieve their full potential, through transformational relationships with other women.

Meet the team

Team

Natalie Robinson

Co-founder and CEO

Dzhuliana Nikolova

Co-founder and CTO

Dimitar Sodev

Lead Back-End Developer

David
Ivanov

Full-Stack
Developer

Natalie Robinson

Co-founder and CEO

Dzhuliana Nikolova

Co-founder and CTO

Dimitar Sodev​

Lead Back-End Developer

David Ivanov

Full-Stack Developer

Advisory team

brigitte-baumann

Brigitte Baumann

Financial Advisor

Cathy Scharetg

Business Advisor

Amanda Michel

Marketing Strategy

Nelson Shaw

Techical Advisor

Yoram Ben-Zvi

Business Advisor

Want to join the team?