MENTOR Announces Corporate Excellence in Youth Mentoring Award Finalists
BOSTON, Jan. 10 – As we head into a new year, make resolutions, and set goals, the national organization unifying the mentoring movement is recognizing those who give back to their communities year-round. MENTOR today announced 10 finalists for the inaugural national award given to one outstanding employee mentor selected after a nationwide call for nominations.
Finalists for the brand new Corporate Excellence in Youth Mentoring Award represent nine companies, five states, and a diverse array of industries spanning technology to finance to insurance – and they all have one thing in common: a commitment to building meaningful relationships to support young people while building a 21st century workforce.
The Corporate Excellence in Youth Mentoring finalists and their mentees are real-life examples of the power of mentoring relationships to support, inspire, and engage young people personally and professionally.
Pamela Stewart is one such example. Pamela is Senior Counsel at 3M’s Office of General Counsel and a member of the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts River Valleys in Minnesota. One of Pamela’s mentees, Ashley, calls Pamela her “auntie-fairy-godmother” for her willingness to help Ashley navigate a family emergency while interning at 3M. Pamela’s response when asked how Ashley could repay her? To graduate from college and forge ahead in her career. Today, Ashley holds a Master’s degree in accounting and a job at a global firm.
Another finalist, Ron Diner, is the Director of Strategic Community Partnerships at Raymond James, where he founded a lunchtime mentoring program for elementary and middle school students in Pinellas County, Florida that now engages more than 60 companies and community organizations. The Lunch Pals program has matched more than 700 young students with an adult mentor – including Ron’s own mentees, two fifth-graders who have been his lunch pals for three years.
Stories like these will take center stage when the award finalists and one national award winner—who will be announced later this month—will be recognized on January 24 at the Excellence in Mentoring Awards Dinner at the Library of Congress. The award ceremony is an invitation-only convening of leaders and supporters of the youth mentoring field and part of the National Mentoring Summit, the signature event for the mentoring field, convening more than 1,000 experts, practitioners, advocates, and philanthropic partners to advance mentoring nationwide. The Summit closes out National Mentoring Month, celebrated each January to focus national attention on the value of mentoring to bring people together and build meaningful, lasting relationships for young people and adults alike.
With support of the Alper Family Foundation, each finalist will be invited to direct a $500 grant to their respective nonprofit mentoring program. The national awardee will be invited to direct a $1,000 grant to their nonprofit mentoring program.
2018 CORPORATE EXCELLENCE IN YOUTH MENTORING TOP 10 HONOREES
Max De Long
Genentech
Ron Diner
Raymond James
Jeff Fetters
Federated Insurance Companies
Elizabeth S. Gurney
First Niagara Foundation
Milton Martinez
General Motors
Vaughn L. McKoy
PSEG Long Island
Olubusola Oyefesobi
EY
Amanda Rost
LinkedIn
Michael Ruiz
EY
Pamela Stewart
3M
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About MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership is the unifying champion for quality youth mentoring in the United States. MENTOR’s mission is to close the mentoring gap and ensure our nation’s young people have the support they need through quality mentoring relationships to succeed at home, school, and ultimately, work. To achieve this, MENTOR collaborates with its network of Affiliates and works to drive the investment of time and money into high-impact mentoring programs and advance quality mentoring through the development and delivery of standards, cutting-edge research, and state-of-the-art tools. Connect with MENTOR on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.