Press Releases

2024-10-31

Mentoring Central Research Scientist Presents at the 2024 Whitney M. Young, Jr., Leadership Development Conference

Mentoring Central Research Scientist Dr. Rebecca Stelter co-led a session at the 2024 Whitney M. Young, Jr., Leadership Development Conference in New York, NY this month to discuss data-informed strategies for recruiting, training, and retaining volunteer mentors within the National Urban League’s signature Project Ready: Mentor program.

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2024-09-27

Now Available! New Guide to Help Parents/Caregivers Maximize Benefits of Mentoring for Their Young Person

Mentoring Central is excited to share that the National Mentoring Resource Center (NMRC) has released a new guide to help parents and caregivers support a young person involved in or help a young person become involved in a mentoring program.

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2024-06-28

Oklahoma Mentoring Programs Implement Mentoring Central’s Mentor Trainings

iRT is excited to announce that it is collaborating with the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) and the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth (OCCY) to implement and evaluate Mentoring Central’s training programs and mentoring resources in mentoring programs across Oklahoma.

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2024-04-23

Mentoring Central Recognized on the 2024 National Corporate Mentoring Honor Roll

Mentoring Central, a division of innovation Research & Training (iRT), is pleased to announce that it has joined MENTOR’s 2024 National Corporate Mentoring Honor Roll.

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2024-03-25

Latest Funding Opportunities for Mentoring Programs

The U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) recently announced 2024 funding opportunities for youth-serving organizations and programs, including youth mentoring programs. The OJJDP’s Youth Mentoring Program Grants program is the only mentoring-specific grant program funded by U.S. Congress. The OJJDP’s latest announced solicitations that are relevant to mentoring programs include the 2024 National Mentoring Programs grant, the 2024 Opioid Affected Youth Initiative grant, and the 2024 Second Chance Act Youth Reentry Program grant. These grants provide support to mentoring programs, so you can offer evidence-based training to your mentors, provide high-quality resources and activities to matches, employ a team of professional mentoring program staff, evaluate your program, and more.

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Events

Webinar: Applying the EEPM 4 to Diverse Models and Youth Populations [free]

Applying the EEPM 4 to Diverse Models and Youth Populations [free]

2/25/16 1-2:30pm EST

~ 75 minutes

Applying the EEPM 4 to Diverse Models and Youth Populations will provide attendees with an interactive discussion on how the Elements of Effective Practice applies to mentoring programs given the diverse array of mentee and mentor populations and program models. In addition, we will solicit questions and feedback from attendees regarding how the EEPM applies to their programs.

Take the free training at: Free Mentoring Central

[Webinar] Risk Management Part 2 – 1pm (EST) Feb. 16, 2016

Risky Business (Part 2): Developing your mentoring program’s risk management policies [free]

Take the Free Training at Free Mentoring Central

A mentoring relationship cannot be considered effective unless it is safe. Training on ethics and safety in mentoring is critical to ensuring the health and well-being of mentees and mentors. The recently released Fourth Edition of the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring (EEPM) identified a set of risk management topics that programs should address in their policies and include in their training of mentors, mentees, and parent or guardians. This three-part webinar series will focus on how mentoring programs can decrease the potential for harm to anyone involved in a mentoring relationship.

Join our expert researchers (Drs. Janis Kupersmidt and Rebecca Stelter) and practitioner (Ms. Sharon Daura) who will provide a thorough exploration of the 19 risk management topics outlined in the EEPM, with the goal of helping you to fine-tune your existing program policies or develop new ones.  After you attend these webinars, you will understand the importance and relevance of each topic for mentoring as well as key issues to address in your policies.  Future training will focus on how to conduct mentor, mentee, and parent or guardian training on these policies.

The second webinar in the series focuses on issues to consider in a mentoring program’s risk management policies and practices that are related to communications by mentors, mentees, parents or guardians, and the mentoring program with individuals, organizations, and media outlets that are outside of the mentoring relationship.

Celebrating 25 Years of the Youth Mentoring Movement

Monday, November 9, New York City—The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) is proud to celebrate 25 years of building and unifying a youth mentoring movement in 2015! This yearlong celebration will include a special event at The Plaza Hotel on Monday, November 9 honoring MENTOR’s co-founders and commemorating a quarter of a century of milestones and achievements in the field. More on this celebration: bit.ly/1Hh0WIe.

Advanced Screening

November 17, Boston–Join Mass Mentoring Partnership for an advanced training that will build upon the basics of screening. Participants will have the opportunity to refine program eligibility requirements, receive feedback on program applications and interview forms, enhance awareness of red flags, and practice relevant steps in the screening process.  Participants will receive MMP’s Advanced Screening Workbook which contains useful tools and templates to support screening of volunteers and mentors. Register: bit.ly/1MP0gr1

National Mentoring Month: Amplifying Your Voice

November 19, 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., EDT–Planning to participate in National Mentoring Month this January? Join this webinar to learn best practices for amplifying your voice during this yearly recruitment campaign. We will feature panelists from Midlands Mentoring Partnership in Nebraska, TeamMates Mentoring in Iowa and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mid-South in Tennessee. Each presenter will speak on a different way to engage throughout the month. Whether you represent a small, mid-size or large program, there will be plenty of useful information shared. Register now! Facilitated by MENTOR. For more information: bit.ly/1k5bGjb

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Blog

2024-10-31
Tips for Navigating Difficult Conversations with Your Mentee

By eporter

Tips for Navigating Difficult Conversations with Your Mentee

Having difficult or uncomfortable conversations with a mentee is one aspect of mentoring that many mentors find intimidating. For example, you may find it challenging to navigate conversations about substance misuse, concepts of gender, racism, and violence with your mentee in ways that are empowering, respectful, and foster relationship closeness.

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2024-09-27
How the Science of Hope Can Help Your Mentees Flourish

By eporter

How the Science of Hope Can Help Your Mentees Flourish

Many community organizations, behavioral health providers, educational institutions, and mentoring programs are integrating the science of hope into their practices to improve the health and wellbeing of groups they serve. The word “hope” tends to bring positive thoughts, and we often use the word to bring encouragement to others in times of hardship or need. But, what does hope really mean, and how can it benefit your mentoring program?

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2024-08-26
Back-to-School Mentoring Activity Guide for Stronger Relationships

By eporter

Back-to-School Mentoring Activity Guide for Stronger Relationships

Though mentors are often not directly involved in their mentees’ schooling, they can play an impactful role behind the scenes to help their mentee feel connected at school, attend class regularly, and boost their grades.

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Jobs

2023-05-15
Business Development Associate

By eporter

POSITION TITLE: Business Development Associate
EMPLOYER: Innovation Research & Training
LOCATION (City, State): Durham, NC
WEBSITES: www.irtinc.us; www.mentoringcentral.net; www.preventioncentral.net
START DATE: Available immediately

Position Type: Full-time

Company Description: innovation Research & Training (iRT), a behavioral sciences research company, in Durham, North Carolina, seeks a full-time Business Development Associate who desires to join an outstanding team. iRT is a small, innovative company that specializes in research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based prevention and intervention programs. Our mission is to create products and services with proven outcomes that improve the health and well-being of children, adolescents, young adults, families, and communities.

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