# Assigning a Mentor

*Finding the best match.*With the client's **industry** and **requested mentoring areas** in mind (Section 2), open the **CBM Members** area to review the available mentors. Look across each mentor's profile for the fit that matters:

- **focus / expertise areas**— do they line up with what the client needs?
- **availability**— are they open to taking someone on right now?
- **capacity**— do they have room for another engagement?

Scan or filter the list to narrow to capable mentors, and choose the one who best fits the client. Consulting a colleague or doing a little research before you decide is part of the job — there's no rush to assign.

*Making the assignment.*Open the engagement you're assigning. The goal isn't just to name the mentor — it's to give them access to everything they'll need (the engagement, the people, and the client), so a few steps repeat the mentor across related records.

1. In the engagement's **Assigned Mentor** field, select the mentor you chose.
2. In the **Assigned Users** field, select that **same** mentor. (This is the access step — the Assigned User, not the Assigned Mentor, is what actually lets them open the record.)
3. Change the **Status** to **Pending Acceptance**, and save the engagement.
4. Give the mentor access to the client's people — for each **Engagement Contact**, open the contact's record, set its **Assigned Use r**to the mentor, and save.
5. Open the **client record** linked to the engagement, set its **Assigned User**to the mentor, and save.

*Why the extra steps.*Access follows the Assigned User on each record, so the mentor needs to be the Assigned User everywhere they'll look — the engagement, its contacts, and the client. Miss one and the mentor will see the engagement but won't be able to open a contact or the client.

*What happens next.*Setting the status to **Pending Acceptance** hands the engagement to the mentor: it appears in their My Engagements list, where they accept it (moving it to **Assigned**) or decline it (sending it back to your queue as **Assignment Declined**— Section 4). Your part is done once a capable mentor and their matching user are set and the status is **Pending Acceptance**.

[![ClientAssignment-AssignEngagementMentor-0012026-06-17_19-18-09.png](https://docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/clientassignment-assignengagementmentor-0012026-06-17-19-18-09.png)](https://docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/clientassignment-assignengagementmentor-0012026-06-17-19-18-09.png)*Adding a co-mentor or transferring an engagement.*The same fields let you adjust who's on an engagement after it's assigned:

- To add a **co-mentor**, select from the list of available Mentors to the **Assigned Mentors** and **Assigned Users** fields alongside the primary mentor, and give them access to the contacts and client the same way (steps 4–5 above) so they see the full picture.
- To **transfer** an engagement to a different mentor, replace the mentor in those fields and move the **Assigned User** on the contacts and the client to the new mentor as well.

Mentors can make these same changes themselves; the Mentor Guide covers it from their side.