About Us

The Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection originated in 2001 as the first state-sponsored mentoring program in the nation. Spearheaded by Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, the program was first known as the Governor’s Mentor Protégé Program. Governor Barnes relied on a broad consortium of business leaders, corporate executives, business owners, supplier diversity professionals and small business development experts to create a first-of-its-kind initiative that set the standard for such programs across the country. For its first decade, the program was administered by the state of Georgia’s Department of Economic Development.

Leadership of the program was transitioned from the state of Georgia to the GMSDC, under the auspices of its Georgia Education Foundation, in 2012. The GMSDC implemented a new course forward for the program, whose name was changed at that time to the Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection, with the establishment of a dedicated staff team and a number of key enhancements to the curriculum and program content. The GMPC still maintains a strategic partner relationship with the state’s Economic Development department and the Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech, who support the program in key areas.

The GMPC has facilitated some 400 mentor-protégé pairings over the years, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs in Georgia and billions of dollars in revenues. Alumni firms are among the most highly regarded in their industries, having won major contracts and countless awards for excellence and achievement in business. Annually, the program continues to produce world-class alumni who are making a difference in Georgia’s economy. As the GMPC looks forward to its 20th year, the program remains one of the nation’s leading small business development initiatives.