Unleash Your Mentoring Program’s Full Potential with the Mentoring Central Annual Membership

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – Are you looking for training programs and evaluation resources to take your mentoring program to the next level? Mentoring Central’s annual membership is your one-stop shop for access to a large array of training, evaluation, and mentoring-related products for your mentoring program. Whether your program offers Community-based mentoring, Site-based mentoring, e-Mentoring, Group mentoring, or some combination of these program models, the membership package will meet the needs of your program.

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Setting Mentees Up for Success: New Building the Foundation for Mentees Instructor-Led Workshop

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – Building the Foundation for Mentees, Mentoring Central’s interactive, research-informed, highly positively reviewed eLearning course for mentees has been modified for delivery in a live, instructor-led workshop, based upon user requests.

Building the Foundation for Mentees introduces youth to the world of mentoring. Youth who are enrolled in a mentoring program for the first time are often unaware of what a mentoring relationship is, what they may do with their mentor, and how they can benefit from the experience. Entering a mentoring relationship with uncertainty and anxiety will yield fewer positive outcomes for mentees, so mentee training is a vital step in the mentorship process. Building the Foundation for Mentees’ six interactive sections contain reinforcing quizzes, real-world scenarios, and engaging activities to motivate mentees to participate in their mentoring relationship, to help mentees develop skills to create and maintain a supportive relationship with their mentor, and to support mentees to build confidence in themselves in their role as a mentee.

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Mentoring Central Attends the 13th Annual National Mentoring Summit

Dr. Janis Kupersmidt, Dr. Rebecca Stelter, and Elizabeth Porter represented Mentoring Central, a division of iRT, at the annual National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC, last month. The 2023 Summit, convened by MENTOR, brought mentoring professionals and advocates from across the nation together for expert-led presentations and networking opportunities to share mentoring best practices and drive positive change for young people.

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New product! Building the Foundation for Mentees Virtual Toolkit: Demystifying Mentoring for Youth While Building Their Motivation and Skills to Safely and Fully Participate in a Mentoring Relationship

Most mentees participating in a youth mentoring program are signed up to participate by one or more of their parents, and if you ask them, what they will get out of being a mentee in a mentoring program or what a mentor does or what to expect, they often tell you that they have no idea. The Building the Foundation for Mentees workshop was developed to fill this gap in knowledge in youth, as well as to build their interest and motivation to participate. Without proper knowledge about what it means to have a mentoring relationship, mentees may feel apprehensive about being enrolled in a mentoring program. Providing training to mentees about what to expect in a mentoring relationship, the roles and responsibilities of mentors, and the ways the mentee can positively contribute to building a close, positive mentoring relationship can help youth feel more motivated to participate and more skilled in building a stronger, more helpful relationship with a caring volunteer adult.

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iRT Contributes to the Development of a Disability Inclusion Guide for Mentoring Programs

February 7, 2023, Durham, NC – Youth with disabilities account for a significant portion of the mentees enrolled in mentoring programs across the United States. A national study conducted by MENTOR found that approximately 10 percent of youth served in mentoring programs nationally have a disability.¹ However, many mentoring programs lack the resources needed to meet the unique needs of mentees with disabilities. Mentoring program staff must implement inclusive strategies in the training, policies, and design of their mentoring program to achieve positive outcomes for every mentee enrolled in the program.

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