Kenton Raiford

 Quick Responder

The odds of you seeing this profile are tremendously low. Yet, here we are. Out of all of the sites to visit, you chose Mentor Cruise. Out of all of the mentors you could’ve selected, you’re here with me.

I believe in the power of serendipity and turning random chance or “coincidences” into opportunities. There’s no way to know all of the ways we will both benefit while building our mentor / mentee relationship, but I’m excited to begin exploring with you.

If you want to know who am I at a high level:

- Professionally, I’m a program manager at Google who first learned about startups and tech during my 3rd year of college (~2015).
- I’ve built several programs to coach non-technical and technical students and teach them how to obtain and build careers within the tech industry.
- I’m a self taught developer and have launched several iOS apps.
- I worked as a developer and marketer for a few startups.
- I’ve participated in several mentorship programs as both a mentee and mentor and use my learnings to improve future mentor relationships.
- I’m a product of two military veterans from underserved communities who excelled in life despite the odds stacked against them.
- My life’s mission is to leverage the opportunities my ancestors carved out for me to become financially free and share the knowledge and resources I’ve gained during my journey to improve future generations.
- I started organizing large scale concerts my junior year of high school.
- I worked for Universal Music Group in college and met a lot of now famous artists who weren’t mainstream at the time.
- I have a degree in Business Marketing and Information Systems.
- I worked in sales for a cyber security startup that is now valued at $2B+.

You will benefit the most from a mentorship with me if you:

- Commit to our arrangement and respect our time together.
- Are open about your needs and provide feedback to help me better support you. Feel welcome to disagree and help me understand where we can improve.
- Understand what you need help with, your goals, and what you plan to get out of this mentorship to help guide our discussions. If you don’t know and want to explore possibilities, we can also do that together :).
- Show up to meetings on-time and prepared. This will help us get the most value out of our time together.
- Are open to constructive feedback and eager to learn new topics.
- Willing to finish assigned work on-time.
- Consistent with communication and flexible with time. My schedule isn’t consistent, but I will respond within 24 hours of an email or text and ensure we’re aligned on expectations.
- Take initiative in your own learning and development
- Stay positive! This can be a challenging process, but we will get through it together.

We will discuss your specifics needs and interests, but here are some of the things I can help you with:

- Discuss how to join the tech industry.
- Provide tips on how to communicate your value and impact in your resume and/or interviews.
- Build a program development and execution strategy and roadmap.
- Determine metrics to measure and communicate your success.
- Develop a plan to scale your programs.
- Communicate to stakeholders (users, executives, team members, etc.)
- Improve how you and/or your team works, increasing speed and results.
- LinkedIn profile reviews
- Navigate a career change, introduction to program management, and more!
- Improve your program and/or project management skills to better execute and deliver impactful results.
- Organize and structure large and/or small scale events

As my mentee, you’ll have hands on support from me as you work to achieve your goals. Email or text me at any time and I’ll respond within 24 hours. We can set up video calls as needed.

Reach out in your application if you have any questions. You’ll have a free 7 day trial as we start working together for us to make sure the mentorship is the right fit for us both!

Disclaimer, please read: I am operating on behalf of myself and not on behalf of any affiliated company or organization. I will not discuss or disclose any confidential or proprietary information related to any affiliated company or organization. Any attempts to obtain the above mentioned information will result in an immediate termination of our mentor / mentee relationship and will be reported to Mentor Cruise.