Christine Cruzvergara’s statement that “every student should have a personal board of advisors” got me thinking: how would the board of advisors feel for mentors if they knew they didn’t have to carry every aspect of mentorship alone? When I ask an alumnus to mentor students, I wonder if they opt out not because they don’t care, but because being everything to a student feels like too much. That feeling sent me looking for a reframe that might make a seat on that board worth accepting.
I found one possible framework where I least expected it. In The Hero and the Outlaw, Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson adapt Carl Jung’s belief that humans understand relationships and roles through 12 universal archetypes and apply that idea to brand identity. They argue that the most memorable brands know who they are and communicate it clearly. A brand that tries to be everything to everyone ends up meaning very little. A mentorship ask with no defined shape may feel like too much for an alumnus to accept with a confident yes. What if we gave alumni a clear identity on the “board of advisors” that fits who they are, not just what they’ve accomplished?
Four Archetypes
Of the 12 archetypes identified by Mark and Pearson, I think four map most directly to what students need during early career transitions and best reflect the distinct gifts alumni can share in ways that feel approachable. I have included a few familiar examples for those who are new to this framework.
The Sage offers knowledge earned through years of practice (Gandalf, Dumbledore). Sages support from a distance and offer the kind of thoughtful insight that can only come from lived experience. Students need a Sage to help them understand not just what the work is, but what it means to do it well.
The Hero shows students what is possible by having already done it (Katniss Everdeen, Miles Morales). When students connect with a Hero who comes from a similar background or holds a similar identity, they walk away with proof that unlikely outcomes are possible because someone else has walked a similar path.
The Caregiver supports students with compassion, warmth, and trust (Ted Lasso, Leslie Knope). Caregivers help students navigate the unwritten rules of professional culture and the disorientation of early career transitions, offering a steady presence throughout.
The Ruler creates opportunities and chooses to share them (Professor X, President Bartlet). Rulers offer job shadows, internships, introductions, and network opportunities grounded in a genuine understanding of the student’s potential. They most closely fit the traditional mentor role and offer access not as a transaction, but as an investment in a student’s trajectory.
These four archetypes work best not in isolation but in concert. A student who has been emboldened by a Hero, steadied by a Caregiver, and guided by a Sage arrives at the Ruler’s door ready to make the most of the opportunity waiting there. No single alumnus must carry it all alone: they only need to show up with their own gifts. When the role fits, the answer is more likely to be yes.
I am excited by the opportunity to rethink how we extend the invitation to mentor. What if outreach helped alumni recognize themselves in one of these roles and helped students understand the value of each. The ask would shift from, “would you like to mentor a student?” to “which of these feels most like you?” That single shift in framing might be what helps an alumnus feel like the invitation was made for them.
The next time you extend the invitation to mentor, which archetype could you lead with? And which alumnus has been waiting to recognize themselves in that invitation?
Anna Gonzalez leads alumni relations and community engagement at Madison College. A former theatre community-engagement leader and longtime educator, she brings a relationship-centered, access-minded approach to advancement.
Anna is our special guest contributor this week.
Register for our Next Agora
Topic: Talent Development
Title:
Starting With Yourself: Set Mini-Boundaries to Preserve Your Capacity
Date & Time:
Thursday, July 16 from 12-1 pm ET.
Event Type:
TED-style presentation plus small-group networking and discussion
Speaker:
Ellen Whitlock Baker - Executive Coach and Leadership Consultant
Big Themes This Week
Career readiness is everyone’s job, but it still needs a leader and a central office, or it turns into chaos.
The personal board of advisors: every student should graduate with at least three alumni they can actually turn to.
Advancement and career services lose real opportunities when they gatekeep information and relationships from each other.
The young-alumni-donor overlap is a bridge, annual-fund donors who are also natural mentors and volunteers.
In an AI world, the human connection an institution can broker is becoming more valuable, not less.
Team Discussion Questions
Where do our career and alumni offices operate as if the other does not exist, and what would sharing look like?
Could we set a real goal of three alumni relationships for every student, and what would it take to get there?
Who are the young alumni already recruiting or giving that we have never thought to engage as volunteers?
Are we treating career outcomes as an engagement strategy, or as someone else’s department?
How are we helping students become builders with AI while protecting the relational skills employers still want?
