E-028 · Detailed guide · Theme 2

Mentorship Lunch Series

Use Mentorship Lunch Series to make mentoring and personal development easier to find, choose and sustain.

Where this idea came from

Playbook entry: E-028 · Mentorship Lunch Series
Theme: Theme 2: Engagement & Belonging · Subtheme 2: Mentoring & Pathways
Source material: Current playbook index title and category plus an internally authored detailed-guide draft

Initiative-specific development wave

How this draft was developed

These sources support general principles for mentoring, member connection and accessible participation; they do not constitute Rotary International or Australian Human Rights Commission endorsement of the named Mentorship Lunch Series initiative or this locally designed delivery model.

Primary references consulted

Deliver Continued Value (Rotary International)
Used for: Rotary encourages clubs to create mentoring, professional development and cross-generational connection opportunities.; Member value can include connections based on interests and hobbies as well as service and leadership development.
Enhance Your Club's Culture (Rotary International)
Used for: Rotary identifies mentoring, networking and leadership development among the experiences clubs can make visible to members.; Mentoring can also keep mentors engaged and help them strengthen leadership and member connections.
Hosting accessible and inclusive meetings and events (Australian Human Rights Commission)
Used for: Inclusive event planning needs to consider accessible participation, communication and the practical meeting setting.; Organisers should provide a route for participants to request adjustments rather than assuming one format works for everyone.

Candidate District material consulted

These records remain draft evidence and still need a human source decision.

Club Playbook - Theme 2
Related draft concept only: optional coffee or lunch pairings based on shared interests as a way to build connection. The candidate does not specify a topic-based series, the current E-028 title or the safeguards in this draft.

Theme 2 source-assurance wave

What has been checked

3 current primary pages used by this guide were reopened on 9 August 2026.
6 attributed source claim(s) were mapped to their bounded use in this initiative.
Candidate District material remains separate and does not establish this result.

See each source's scope and limit

Deliver Continued Value
Supports: The 49 attributed Theme 2 claims attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping.
Does not establish: That the initiative is endorsed by Rotary International or District 9510, that it is permitted by the club's governing documents, that members want it, that it suits the local club, or that it will achieve the intended outcome.
Enhance Your Club's Culture
Supports: Member-centred culture review, barrier reduction, flexibility, mentoring and practical conversation about club renewal.
Does not establish: That every suggested action suits the club, that the page diagnoses the club or that a proposed cultural change has member support or governing approval.
Hosting accessible and inclusive in-person meetings and events
Supports: The 71 attributed Theme 2 claims attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping.
Does not establish: Accessibility or inclusion conformance, the needs or preferences of any person or community, cultural authority to act, the suitability of a format or venue, or local approval.

What still needs a person to confirm

Confirm the member, prospective-member, past-member and community needs, preferences and consent that the local design assumes.
Confirm which privacy, safeguarding, incorporated-association, charity, work health and safety, food, liquor, copyright, licensing, screening and other duties apply to the club and the activity.
Test accessibility, cultural safety, belonging, language and alternative participation routes with affected people and recognise First Nations cultural authority rather than inferring suitability from the guide.
Confirm every local fact, starting point, cost, role, current service contact, measure, stopping condition and platform capability before the club decides to proceed.
Confirm the authority and current scope of each primary source, resolve login-gated or moved-page references and keep any candidate District material attributed and unapproved until its source decision is made.

The source-verification release gate remains closed.

Checks still on hold

The club must approve the cost, subsidy, alcohol, food-safety, accessibility, transport and cancellation approach for the chosen venues.
Hosts must disclose conflicts and must not use the series for recruitment, business promotion or regulated advice.
Registrations, questions and access or dietary information must be collected only for the series, restricted and removed when no longer needed.
The series requires a current concern and referral route, including for conduct, complaints, safeguarding and professional-boundary issues.

Still an internal draft: source interpretation, local suitability, accessibility, governance and editorial approval remain open checks.

Why a club might use this

It helps knowledge, confidence and encouragement move between members instead of resting with a few people.

It may suit: Members seeking guidance or a new challenge, and the people offering practical support.

Use it when

Consider Mentorship Lunch Series when members want guidance or a next challenge but the available pathways are hard to see.
Members who prefer informal conversation and would value hearing several perspectives before choosing a mentor or pathway.
Clubs with experienced members willing to host a bounded discussion but unable to commit to long-term mentoring pairs.
A three-lunch pilot over 90 days, with a telephone or online equivalent and one member-owned action after each conversation.

Before the club starts

A short member topic check that asks what people want to explore and lets them disclose no more personal detail than is needed to choose a session.
Three willing hosts or mentors briefed on listening, questions before advice, privacy, conflicts, referral boundaries and the right to pass.
An affordable and accessible venue, food-optional participation, dietary and transport arrangements and an equivalent online or telephone route.
A series coordinator with private registration, cancellation, concern and follow-up processes and authority to stop inappropriate advice or behaviour.

Capacity guide

Likely cost: Low; usually limited to coffee, simple materials and coordination time.
Lead time: About three weeks to recruit mentors, map pathways and make the first matches.
People: One coordinator and four to eight mentors, scaled to the number of participating members.

A useful club conversation

Questions worth asking

What question would be easier to explore over a relaxed conversation than in a formal club meeting?
Which part of the host's experience is useful context, and what decision must remain with the participant?
What is one next conversation, experiment or source of qualified help that would move this forward?

Common traps

Trying Mentorship Lunch Series when A prestige dining group, invitation-only inner circle or format in which cost, alcohol, dietary needs, transport or the chosen time excludes members.
Proceeding with Mentorship Lunch Series when Confidential counselling, grievance discussion, recruitment, commercial referrals or professional advice beyond the mentor's competence and authority.
The series creates warm conversations but no practical mentoring value. — Start from member questions, close with an optional action or referral and review completed follow-up rather than attendance or catering satisfaction alone.

A practical 90-day path

Three milestones for Mentorship Lunch Series
When	What the club does	Evidence to keep
Days 1–30: Agree the local design	Ask members to nominate the questions or transitions they would value discussing, then group the responses into three useful topics without publishing names or personal circumstances. Invite hosts whose experience fits each topic, disclose any conflict and brief them to share experience, ask questions and refer rather than prescribe.	Three de-identified topic briefs and a decision about whether lunch is the right format Confirmed hosts, topic boundaries and a referral list
Days 31–60: Run and adjust the first version	Choose accessible, affordable arrangements, make food optional and offer the same topic by online or telephone conversation where the venue or timing does not work. Invite opt-in registrations, explain the topic and privacy limits and let participants send a question privately without requiring a public introduction.	Venue, cost, access, dietary, transport and alternative-format plan A consented attendee list, private questions and completed adjustments
Days 61–90: Review the evidence and decide	Run each conversation with a short welcome, two or three participant questions, several perspectives and a closing round in which each person may choose one action or simply reflect. Check privately whether participants found the format useful, complete promised introductions and decide whether to repeat, change topic, offer another mentoring route or stop.	A de-identified topic note, participant action cards and any named referral A series review and a follow-up decision for each participant who requested one

Fit it to the club you have

Small club

Use one shared table with an external district or neighbouring-club host when local relationships make privacy difficult. Limit the series to two topics if that is all the club can follow through well.

Larger club

Offer several topic tables with capped numbers and a common host brief. Let members choose a topic privately and provide a coordinator who can redirect or rematch participants between sessions.

Regional or rural club

Use breakfast, telephone or online conversations when lunch travel is impractical, avoid peak work periods and consider interclub hosts to widen the experience available.

Metropolitan, hybrid or online club

Choose a quiet, accessible venue near transport and offer a captioned online table for the same topic. Do not record mentoring conversations or require a meal purchase to participate.

Learn, adapt and know when to stop

Evidence worth keeping

Invited participants who can take part in their preferred affordable and accessible format.
Sessions in which every participant has a genuine opportunity to ask, pass or contribute without sales or disclosure pressure.
Participant-chosen actions, introductions or referrals completed after the lunches.

Change course when

Cost, venue, diet, transport, alcohol or timing makes the mentoring opportunity available only to some members. — Make food optional, publish costs, provide subsidies without stigma, ask about access and diet privately and offer an equivalent online or telephone route.
The informal setting encourages confidential, professional or grievance matters that the host is not equipped to handle. — Brief hosts on the boundary, state it at every session and use a current referral list for complaints, safety, health, legal, financial and other specialist matters.
A recurring lunch group becomes a clique or privileged path to club leaders. — Use open topic-based invitations, rotate hosts, report only de-identified themes and offer the same follow-up route to people using another format.

How to put it into practice

Detailed implementation steps for Mentorship Lunch Series
Step	Action	Suggested owner	Timing	Evidence or output
1	Ask members to nominate the questions or transitions they would value discussing, then group the responses into three useful topics without publishing names or personal circumstances.	Mentorship lunch coordinator	Five weeks before the first lunch	Three de-identified topic briefs and a decision about whether lunch is the right format
2	Invite hosts whose experience fits each topic, disclose any conflict and brief them to share experience, ask questions and refer rather than prescribe.	Mentorship lunch coordinator	Four weeks before the first lunch	Confirmed hosts, topic boundaries and a referral list
3	Choose accessible, affordable arrangements, make food optional and offer the same topic by online or telephone conversation where the venue or timing does not work.	Event and inclusion contacts	Three weeks before each lunch	Venue, cost, access, dietary, transport and alternative-format plan
4	Invite opt-in registrations, explain the topic and privacy limits and let participants send a question privately without requiring a public introduction.	Mentorship lunch coordinator	Two weeks before each lunch	A consented attendee list, private questions and completed adjustments
5	Run each conversation with a short welcome, two or three participant questions, several perspectives and a closing round in which each person may choose one action or simply reflect.	Lunch host	Three sessions across 90 days	A de-identified topic note, participant action cards and any named referral
6	Check privately whether participants found the format useful, complete promised introductions and decide whether to repeat, change topic, offer another mentoring route or stop.	Mentorship lunch coordinator	Within ten days of the third session	A series review and a follow-up decision for each participant who requested one

Controls and safeguards

Check the idea with the people affected and confirm its purpose, owner and practical limits before putting it into use.
Protect member choice and privacy, make participation accessible, and do not infer belonging or satisfaction from attendance alone.
Cost, venue, diet, transport, alcohol or timing makes the mentoring opportunity available only to some members. — Make food optional, publish costs, provide subsidies without stigma, ask about access and diet privately and offer an equivalent online or telephone route.
The informal setting encourages confidential, professional or grievance matters that the host is not equipped to handle. — Brief hosts on the boundary, state it at every session and use a current referral list for complaints, safety, health, legal, financial and other specialist matters.
A recurring lunch group becomes a clique or privileged path to club leaders. — Use open topic-based invitations, rotate hosts, report only de-identified themes and offer the same follow-up route to people using another format.
The series creates warm conversations but no practical mentoring value. — Start from member questions, close with an optional action or referral and review completed follow-up rather than attendance or catering satisfaction alone.
The club must approve the cost, subsidy, alcohol, food-safety, accessibility, transport and cancellation approach for the chosen venues.
Hosts must disclose conflicts and must not use the series for recruitment, business promotion or regulated advice.
Registrations, questions and access or dietary information must be collected only for the series, restricted and removed when no longer needed.
The series requires a current concern and referral route, including for conduct, complaints, safeguarding and professional-boundary issues.

What to measure

After 90 days, review Mentorship Lunch Series. Look for suitable matches, regular check-ins and progress against goals chosen by the participating member.
Invited participants who can take part in their preferred affordable and accessible format.
Sessions in which every participant has a genuine opportunity to ask, pass or contribute without sales or disclosure pressure.
Participant-chosen actions, introductions or referrals completed after the lunches.
A clear repeat, redesign, alternate-pathway or stop decision after the three-session pilot.

Follow-up: At the 90-day review, compare the recorded measures with the starting point, resolve the listed governance holds and tell participants whether Mentorship Lunch Series will change, continue or stop.

Made for this initiative

Tailored supporting documents

These working documents use the decisions, safeguards and evidence needs of this initiative. Complete them with the people affected and keep the agreed version with the club's project record.

Mentorship Lunch Topic and Access Form

Choose useful topics and make participation arrangements without asking members for unnecessary personal detail.

Open supporting document

Lunch Host and Mentor Briefing

Give every host the same expectations for a respectful, bounded and useful conversation.

Open supporting document

Mentoring Conversation and Action Card

Let each participant keep a private record of what was useful and what they choose to do next.

Open supporting document

Related playbook entries

E-027
E-029

Supporting worksheets

Before your club says yes

Does the idea fit?

Talk with the people it is meant to serve and check that the need is real.

We have checked this

Who can say yes?

Name the person or group that can approve the work, spending and any safety arrangements.

We have checked this

Are people protected?

Check privacy, consent and safety. Collect only the information you genuinely need.

We have checked this

Can everyone take part?

Check the language, format, place, technology and cost for barriers.

We have checked this

Are the facts and permissions right?

Check names, claims, images, quotations, partner references and Rotary branding.

We have checked this

How will we learn?

Note where things stand now, check in at 30, 60 and 90 days, and decide what to do next.

We have checked this