Big or Small the National Mentoring Project Works for All!
July 21, 2021
Connect Focus Grow, Workforce Development, Our Affiliates
One of the core concepts of the mentoring movement is the belief that all young people are capable of greatness, and that the support of caring adults (mentors) can help them discover those talents and realize their unlimited potential. In many cases, those caring adults already exist within the youth’s life; but to recognize that the relationship exists and to really make the most of it, both the adults and the youth need access to the right tools and resources.
Through its Connect|Focus|Grow curriculum, the National Mentoring Project is designed to provide that recognition and those tools to youth and their mentors in the workplace. In Rhode Island, MENTOR Rhode Island has partnered with two youth workforce development programs, one big and one small, to support young people and their supervisors through the use of Connect|Focus|Grow. What we’ve found is that, regardless of the size of the program or the field of work the programs support, the National Mentoring Project is helping create a deeper, more positive experience for young people, their employers, and those that manage these programs.
FARM FRESH RHODE ISLAND
Farm Fresh Rhode Island provides an experiential learning program for youth who want to get into the food production or food service industry. The cohorts are small, with only 3 youth in the current class. The participating youth spend 12 weeks receiving classroom instruction on both topics critical to success in the field and the mentee-focused portions of the Connect|Focus|Grow training. After their classroom time, the young people are placed in internships with supervisors who have also been trained in Connect|Focus|Grow.
“[Connect|Focus|Grow] has helped me view mentoring in a different light. It’s not something that I or anyone in our organization has been trained on, so it’s been good for us to work with MENTOR Rhode Island on this project,” says Sean Kontos of Farm Fresh Rhode Island. “If the youth we serve are happier, they work better and more efficiently and have a more positive view of the outside world. Because of the nature of what we do, we want our students to get out of the situation that they’re in and positive mentorship can help them with that.”
SKILLS FOR RHODE ISLAND’S FUTURE
MENTOR Rhode Island has also provided the curriculum to Skills for RI’s Future. Their PrepareRI High School Virtual Internship Program is a paid summer internship open to all Rhode Island high school juniors, and this year nearly 300 are enrolled. Participants are broken up into 16 “corporations” who are then matched with Employer Sponsors (Rhode Island companies of varying sizes and fields of work). The Sponsors present the groups with a challenge the employer’s business or industry is facing, and the student-run corporations are tasked with coming up with viable solutions. The employers provide business coaches and mentors to the enrolled youth, and all participating youth, mentors, and business coaches receive the Connect|Focus|Grow training.
“Working with MENTOR Rhode Island has enhanced our capacity to provide much-needed support to the business coaches and mentors that support student interns participating in the PrepareRI Internship Program,” says Tracy Duffaut, Director of Education Programs at Skills for Rhode Island’s Future. “The partnership with MENTOR Rhode Island has created an opportunity for our employer volunteers and staff members to re-evaluate and assess our individual motivation to work with youth, sharpen and learn new communication skills, and illustrate positive supportive environments for student interns to model.”
As we celebrate Advocacy August in the mentoring field, it’s important to recognize the crucial role mentors play in advocating for their mentees and, more importantly, helping mentees advocate for themselves. Nowhere is the need for young people to advocate for themselves and have the support of a mentor more apparent than when they enter the workforce. The imbalance of power between a supervisor and a younger worker can exacerbate the cultural or generational friction that may already be present. Because of the intentionality the Connect|Focus|Grow curriculum places on cultural competencies, the supervisor/mentor develops the skills necessary to be understanding of the concerns of the young person. Mentors help their mentees advocate for themselves and for a work environment respectful of their cultural and life experiences.
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
The National Mentoring Project is managed by MENTOR National in partnership with the America’s Promise Alliance / Center for Promise and with support from the Schultz Family Foundation. Find out how to bring this program to your organization, here.