The Teen Corporate Mentoring Program brings high school students into a professional setting where they can ask questions, explore unfamiliar fields and work alongside peers. Through mentoring, group projects and conversations with guest speakers, participants gain a closer look at how personal interests can develop into educational and career paths.
The program addresses questions many teenagers face: What kinds of jobs are available? Which skills will they need? How do people find work that feels meaningful? Hearing directly from professionals gives students perspectives they may not encounter in a classroom.
Novartis describes an experience that combines exposure to corporate roles with opportunities to research, prepare presentations and build connections. Mentors share their own career journeys, showing students that professional growth can involve changing interests, unexpected opportunities and more than one route to success.
That approach recently welcomed 14 Hanover Park Regional High School District students, who participated in the 2026 Novartis Multicultural Teen Corporate Mentoring Program on October 13–14.
Working in teams with students from other schools, the local participants developed ideas for artificial intelligence-enabled solutions to patient challenges involving cardiovascular disease, immunology, breast cancer and prostate cancer. The projects connected emerging technology with human needs while giving students opportunities to practice collaboration and creative problem-solving.
Professional mentors represented digital innovation, marketing, finance and medicine. Their involvement demonstrated how many different specialties contribute to a healthcare company’s work, broadening the possibilities students could consider for themselves.
The experience also included guest speakers from healthcare, finance, business, education and science. Discussions addressed goal setting, taking initiative and academic planning—topics that connect career exploration with choices students are making now.
A connection to the New York Giants added another dimension to the recent gathering. Tight end Chris Manhertz was featured as a keynote speaker, bringing a professional athlete’s perspective into the mentoring setting. Photographs from the event captured the keynote session and students posing with him afterward.
The range of participants reflects the value of looking beyond a single profession for guidance. Students can learn from people in different fields while developing skills that matter across many careers: communicating ideas, asking thoughtful questions, working with others and approaching an unfamiliar challenge.
For East Hanover and the surrounding school community, the program offers a connection between education and the professional world close to home. Students have an opportunity to explore future possibilities while they still have time to discover and develop their interests.
The goal is to give young people more information, more connections and greater confidence as they consider their next steps. For the Hanover Park district students, October’s experience offered a place to begin those conversations—and new possibilities to bring back to school.
