MENTOR Fact Sheet

 

What is MENTOR?

 

MENTOR is the lead champion for youth mentoring in the United States.

  • MENTOR’s goal is to help children by providing a public voice, developing and delivering resources to mentoring programs nationwide and promoting quality for mentoring through standards, cutting-edge research and state-of-the-art tools.
  • MENTOR works closely with State and Local MentoringPartnershipsand more than 5,000 mentoring programs and volunteer centers throughout the country, serving more than three million childrenin all 50 states. MENTOR is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
  • There are currently 18 million children in the United States who want and need a mentor, but only three million have one. MENTOR’s mission is to close that gap so that every one of those 15 million children has a caring adult in their life. 
  • MENTOR serves young people between the ages of 6 and18, and its work over the last two decades has helped millions of young people find the support and guidance they need to build productive and meaningful lives.

 

What does MENTOR do?

  • MENTOR develops quality programmingfor mentoring programs and works to raise fundsto sustain and grow mentoring programs nationwide.
  • MENTOR has established rigorous national guidelines for service providers through its manuals and publications, such astheElements of Effective Practice for MentoringTM.
  • MENTOR galvanized the support of national leaders and mentoring advocates resulting in the preservation of $248 million in federal funding for mentoring programssince 2008.
  • MENTOR has led the effort for SafetyNET, which, for the first time ever, provided an affordable FBI background check for adults working with children. It serves as a model for a major bill before Congress.
  • MENTOR launched the National Mentoring Summit in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The historic and inaugural Summit took place in January 2011 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Speakers at the event included: First Lady Michelle Obama; U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr; U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius; U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service Patrick Corvington; and Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Mike Strautmanis. The National Mentoring Summit has now become an annual event.
  • MENTOR is partnering with the University of Massachusetts Boston to form the UMass Boston/MENTOR Research Alliance, a first-of-its-kind institute to support the advancement of youth mentoring efforts.
  • MENTOR was chosen by  the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its $30,000,000voucher-based demonstration grant to providers to support children in an innovative three-year initiative called: “Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver’s Choice.”
  • MENTOR joined forces with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Corporation for National and Community Service, as well as local partners nationwide, to conduct National Mentoring Month activities each January.
  • MENTOR created the Research and Policy Councilto organize the country’s leading researchers, practitioners and policy experts to focus on state-of-the-art research on mentoring and national policy recommendations.
  • MENTOR’s National Mentoring Institute serves as THE national clearinghouse for key research and national and state policy recommendations to support the needs of children.

 

Who leads MENTOR?

  • MENTOR’s board of directors includes MENTOR Chairman of the Board Willem Kooyker      (Chairman and CEO, Blenheim Capital Management LLC).  MENTOR’s co-founders are Geoffrey T. Boisi(Chairman and CEO, Roundtable Investment Partners LLC) and Raymond G. Chambers (Founder and Chairman, Amelior Foundation). Other board members include: NBA legends Bill Bradleyand  Bill Russell; Grammy award-winner Michael Bolton;James Sinegal (President and CEO, Costco Wholesale),as well as many other men and women who donate their time and efforts to enhance the lives of our nation’s youth. MENTOR’s Chief Executive Officer is David Shapiro.
  • In addition, many luminaries, including politicians, celebrities and sports icons have been involved and honored by MENTOR over the years. Such notable figures include Maya Angelou, Tom Brokaw, David Brooks, Ray Charles,President Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby,Tom Cruise, Maureen Dowd, Clint Eastwood, Quincy Jones, Colin Powell,Cal Ripken Jr., Stingand Oprah Winfrey.