The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness has opened applications for its 2025 Mentorship Program. Applications are being accepted until March 31, and can be submitted here.

The Mentorship Program is a year-long, virtual workshop hosted by the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness. It is designed for small and medium-sized food companies to improve their food safety culture through direct support from global brands. “Small and medium companies” are defined as companies with annual sales of less than $1 billion USD.  

Mentees can expect:

• To work through the Alliance’s award-winning Food Safety Culture Toolkit to assess and improve all aspects of their organization’s food safety culture
• To attend virtual, 75-minute monthly meetings to share best practices and troubleshoot collective roadblocks; each monthly meeting will feature a special guest speaker who will give a 20-minute presentation on key topics such as storytelling and communication tools, assessments, and rewards and recognition programs
• To have access to exclusive food safety culture working groups, virtual and in-person planning meetings, and various other events to socialize, network, and learn from industry leaders.

Applicants must apply in teams of two people who work for the same food company and are interested in collectively striving to improve their company’s food safety culture. Applicants must also be fluent in English and be willing and able to attend monthly meetings via Zoom.

A total of six people representing three companies will be selected for the 2025 cohort, which will meet from May 2025–May 2026. Selected mentees will also be asked to attend an Alliance meeting in September 2025, preferably in person. They will also be asked to provide written testimonial of how the mentorship program and/or implementation of the Food Safety Culture Toolkit has positively impacted their company’s food safety culture.