Summit Fellows Spotlight: Q&A With Marvin Pierre of 8 Million Stories
September 18, 2018
National Mentoring Month Blog Series
With the generous founding support of AT&T, MENTOR launched the Summit Fellowship Program in 2016 to provide professional development scholarships to mentoring program leaders facing financial constraints to attend our National Mentoring Summit. In 2017, thanks to additional investments, MENTOR expanded the Program and provided fifteen scholarships to dedicated leaders from mentoring programs operating with a budget of $150,000 or less.
In the Summit Fellows Spotlight series, the 2018 Fellows reflect on their experiences at the Summit and the lessons they’ve brought back to their local communities and programs.
Marvin Pierre, Program Director of 8 Million Stories
Q: Why was it important for you to attend the National Mentoring Summit, and how did you think that it would impact you and your organization?
A: The mission of Eight Million Stories is to transform the lives of opportunity youth (16-18 years old) through education, skills training, employment and authentic relationships.
It was important for me to leverage the opportunity to learn best practices from other Summit attendees and presenters to bring back to Eight Million Stories. One of our biggest challenges was learning how to build a sustainable mentoring program for our youth involved in the juvenile justice system and attending many of the sessions at the Summit helped to build a foundation for our program.
Q: What was your favorite part of the National Mentoring Summit?
A: I really enjoyed having honest conversations with corporations like Starbucks, Nike and Costco around the importance of mentoring in the workforce, especially with opportunity youth. I was really impressed by how invested they are around mentoring.
Q: What did you learn from the Summit that you have brought back to your organization?
A: The Summit was a wonderful experience! The things that I brought back to my team focused around: sustainability, partnership building through corporation and philanthropy and data management.
Q: Why is it important to support and provide mentoring practitioners with professional development and peer networking opportunities?
A: It is extremely important for mentoring practitioners to bring the latest best practices and trends back to their organizations. While we know the importance of mentoring, funding for mentoring is more competitive than ever. Therefore, having opportunities to leverage other organization’s unique strengths and sustainability methods, is a value add. The relationships I built over throughout the summit will help to further the work of my organization.
Q: Can you share a mentoring story with us?
A: My late mentor and surrogate father Dr. Samuel McFadden once told me: “As you climb up the ladder of success, always reach back to pull up another.” When I think about being called to mentor and help boys of color re-write their own stories, two of my mentees come to mind: Kareem and Jaylon. My first encounter with Kareem was in the principal’s office. He had just been suspended for cursing at his teacher and flipping over his desk. Instead of waiting for his grandmother to meet with the principal, he stormed out of the building without permission. I was called to track him down. I ran after him and ended up walking him home. When we arrived at his grandmother’s home, I explained to her what happened and she looked me in the eye with a look of desperation and said, “Mr. Pierre, you stand the only chance at reaching my grandson. You represent the biggest void in his life: a positive male figure.” My consistent physical and emotional presence brought positive stability to Kareem’s life. I’ve helped him understand that being accountable for his actions will be life-changing for him.
And then there is Jaylon. At 14 and still in seventh grade, Jaylon’s dark and troubled childhood directly resulted in his attending seven different schools and missing more than 70 days of school before the age of twelve. He’s from one of Houston’s most violent neighborhoods, Acres Homes. Both of his parents are heavily involved in gang activity, and are clear about their desire for him to follow their path. His own mother is sure he won’t succeed. Jaylon’s community might seem like an obstacle, but it’s a part of him, and he needs to be able to bring his whole self along, or he’ll never reach his goals. By leading with acceptance and curiosity, I’ve helped Jaylon change his outlook and consider college as option that is actually available to him.
One of the things that I take away from these mentoring experience are: 1) You can’t be afraid to ask questions. 2) Be curious about their experience, their communities, and increasing your proximity to their everyday world. 3) Lead with curiosity rather than judgment or, worst of all, fear. While there is still work to do with Kareem and Jaylon as they find their paths, I believe they are well on their way to re-writing their own stories.