President Obama Reinforces Call-to-Action to Mentor Proclaims January 2015 National Mentoring Month

By: MENTOR

Press Release

WASHINGTON — National Mentoring Month is celebrating 14 years of spreading mentoring awareness in an effort to connect more of the nation’s young people with quality mentors. President Barack Obama has joined the efforts of MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR), the Harvard School of Public Health and the Highland Street Foundation by declaring January 2015 National Mentoring Month through a presidential proclamation. In 2014, President Obama highlighted the critical role mentoring can play in shaping and strengthening communities through the My Brother’s Keeper initiative.

ObamaPresident Obama was quoted in his proclamation as saying, “In a Nation of limitless possibility, every child deserves the chance to unlock his or her potential. When young Americans have the support they need to make the most of themselves, they can achieve their dreams and strengthen our country, which has always moved forward by extending ladders of opportunity to the next generation. Every day, mentors play a vital role in this national mission by helping to broaden the horizons for our daughters and sons. This month, we celebrate these individuals who make it their cause to bring out the best in our young people, and we salute their spirit of service”.

In January 2014, MENTOR published The Mentoring Effect, the first-ever nationally representative survey of young people on the topic of mentoring. This research shows that quality mentoring relationships can play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools they need to make responsible decisions, stay focused and engaged in school, achieve academic and personal goals and reduce or avoid risky behavior like skipping school, drug use and other negative activities. However, research also shows that one in three young people will reach adulthood without this powerful asset.

This year, the 2015 National Mentoring Month will celebrate the power of mentoring relationships and the resulting “mentoring effect” that strengthens our communities. Through the theme of “Mentoring Works!”, the campaign will focus on engaging more community members through the message: Be Someone Who Matters to Someone Who Matters. Mentoring relationships are basic human connections that let a young person know that they matter, and mentors frequently report back that their relationships make them feel like someone who matters.

“We thank President Obama for bringing attention to the powerful impact mentoring has on individuals, families, communities, the workforce, and ultimately our strength as a nation” said David Shapiro, CEO and President of MENTOR. “As we continue our work to ensure the nation’s youth have their mentoring needs met, we encourage all Americans to join the mentoring movement by engaging in National Mentoring Month and volunteering or supporting mentoring locally. Together, we can have more of an impact than we could ever have alone.”

Several January dates are highlighted as part of National Mentoring Month in an effort to create opportunities for engagement and promote the mentoring movement.

  • January 8, 2015: “I Am a Mentor Day,” when volunteers across our community and the country will share their stories about being a mentor on social media using #SomeoneWhoMatters.
  • January 15, 2015: “Thank Your Mentor Day,” when we encourage anyone who has had a mentor to say thank you by sending a note, a card or sharing a story on social media using #SomeoneWhoMatters.
  • January 19, 2015Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, when our nation will shine a spotlight on volunteerism and inspire people seeking service opportunities to learn more about mentoring.
  • January 28-30, 2015: The fifth annual National Mentoring Summit, which is the signature event for the national mentoring movement, will bring together approximately 800 in-person and 200 live stream event attendees, including practitioners, researchers, corporate partners, government and civic leaders, national youth-serving organizations and affiliates from MENTOR’s Mentoring Partnership Network in a forum to explore and advance mentoring’s positive impact on individuals and communities.

Individuals, mentoring programs and corporate partners are also encouraged to support National Mentoring Month by utilizing the digital materials and toolkits available on the campaign website. The campaign will be active on social media through the month of January and promote the hashtags #NationalMentoringMonth, #SomeoneWhoMatters, #MentoringWorks and #MentoringEffect.

Each year since its launch in 2002, National Mentoring Month has enjoyed the strong support of the president and the United States Congress. Additional prominent individuals who have participated in the campaign include: former President Bill Clinton, the late Maya Angelou, Clint Eastwood, Senator John McCain, Quincy Jones, General Colin L. Powell, Cal Ripken, Jr., Bill Russell and Usher. In 2014, the campaign received over 10 million print media impressions and reached approximately 375,000 through social media channels.

About MENTOR

MENTOR 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 Mentoring Partnership Network 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.

Contact

Jennifer Merrill, Development & Communications Manager | 617.303.4612| jmerrill@mentoring.org

 

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