When Mentorship Leads to an Education Career and Giving Back
Are you interested in doing or learning more? Take MENTOR’s Workplace Equity Pledge to further workplace equity for young people. Here are four actions you can take: 1. Advocate: Encourage your Congressional Representatives to support the Youth Workforce Readiness Act. 2. Learn: Watch MENTOR’s training on bringing a Mentoring Mindset to the workplace 3. Elevate: Download our resource on the power of workplace mentoring and share it with your company’s DEI committee. 4. Explore: Download our new resource. Becoming a Better Mentor: Strategies To Be There For Young People.
Chrissy Soares Fernandes is the Classroom Coordinator and Family Engagement Coordinator at The3PointFoundation, a Boston-based organization that seek to close the opportunity and achievement gap caused by economic inequality for underserved, low-income Boston elementary and middle school youth by providing free community-based programs. She sat down with us to share her experiences with mentorship and discuss her goals of inspiring other first-generation college students and Cape Verdean women.
Can you briefly tell me about yourself?
My name is Chrissy Soares Fernandes, and I am currently the Classroom Coordinator and Family Engagement Coordinator at The3PointFoundation.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, I grew up in Brockton and moved to Taunton as a sophomore in high school. The Brockton neighborhood I lived in was dangerous – our house was shot several times in the same year. My mom came here from Cape Verde with no money or family. She knew she wanted to give her kids more opportunities than she had, and when she saw that I was starting to get in trouble, she wanted to move somewhere I’d have the resources I needed to succeed.
After high school, I was accepted to a few different colleges. Since I had to pay for college myself – I worked five jobs throughout my college career – I decided on Bristol Community College. I graduated from Bristol in 2011 and then went to UMass Boston to finish my bachelor’s degree.
Since I was the first generation Cape Verdean in my family to go to college, I had no one to help me or tell me what it was like to go through college. I went through a rough patch and ended up having to leave UMass due to low grades. Two years after I left UMass, I was getting tired of the everyday routine of working long hours that were not making me happy. I wanted to make a difference in my life, talk about the world’s injustices, and figure out how to make a difference. At that moment, I said to myself, “I need to go back to school.” I returned to UMass Boston at the end of 2015 as a part-time student and then increased to full-time once I raised my grades. I graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
I’m right in the middle of ten siblings. As the first to go to college, I paved the way for my younger siblings: one brother just graduated from college and is living his dream of being a coach. Another brother graduated two years ago and is now an electrician. My younger sister is graduating high school this year and is deciding between two colleges. I tell my siblings, “I’m always here for you, but I’m also your mentor, and I will push you and remind you what you have to do.” I also have many beautiful and gifted nieces and nephews and a beautiful goddaughter, godson, and goddaughter on the way.
The3PointFoundation, a nonprofit organization that offers free educational enrichment programs to middle and high students, changed my life. Currently, I am the 3Point teacher at TechBoston Academy. The 3PointFoundation delivers programs and activities that promote positive youth development, including social-emotional learning, by connecting lessons from academics with principles from athletics. Project-based learning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and civic engagement form the foundation of our values-based program modules. Driven by data on successful youth development for the 21st century, our program goals are efficacy, agency, connectedness, and confidence. I also support students with college and career readiness.
How has mentoring played a role in your life?
I joined a career mentoring program during my senior year at Taunton High School. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, but I did know I wanted to help people in the community I served. They paired me with a Taunton Police officer named Dora Treacy. I was so nervous when I heard I had been paired with a police officer because I didn’t know what to expect! Three officers served as mentors in the program, so my mentor and I would go places with the other two pairs. We went to courts and correctional facilities, but Dora also brought me to different types of businesses and visited college campuses to think about what I wanted for my future. For her to do that for me – for a woman police officer to care about me – really changed my life. She was someone who impacted my life and helped me gain a different perspective on life.
Honestly, I was surprised people cared about my future. I don’t want to go as far as to say I’ve never had that, but the support I found in the mentoring program was different than I had ever experienced. I was amazed these busy adults would take time out of their days to show me their experiences, talk about their lives, and be vulnerable yet resilient. Thank you to another mentor I consider family, Dr. Joan Arches, who provided guidance and emotional support and continues to help me reach my goals and dreams.
What made you want to work with young people?
I always knew I wanted to impact my community and the world positively. Some opportunities aren’t there for youth of color and minorities, and I have seen friends get into trouble. Even at 14, I had friends who were involved in violence or had gotten pregnant and were missing opportunities. I wanted to help prevent kids and youth from getting into the system.
I participated in a program in college with Jumpstart, a national early education organization working with preschoolers and kindergarteners on language and literacy skills. At the end of the program, that is when I knew I wanted to impact the lives of the youth. Teaching is my passion. I am fortunate to use my professional background in education to help students excel in the classroom.
Do you feel like your experience as a mentee shapes how you mentor young people?
My experience as a mentee helped shape how I mentor young people because everything Dora and my mentors did for me, I’m doing for my students. I’m that person I needed when I was younger. Seeing someone like Dora who cared inspired me to give back. She encouraged me to follow my dreams and was someone I could rely on if I needed help. I make sure to give my mentees the support, advice, motivation, and attention they need to succeed.
If you could give one piece of advice to prospective mentors and mentees, what would it be?
I would tell mentors to ensure they continue their support and commitment to their mentees because sharing what they’ve been through and their experiences will help somebody and inspire them to think about their goals and dreams in life. I’d say, “Stay committed and don’t give up on your mentee, because even if it doesn’t always seem like it, you are helping them!” And remember, you can learn from the person you’re mentoring, too. I feel like, in a way, my students are mentoring me while I mentor them.”
Mentees: take a leap of faith! Remember that you’re never alone and always ask for help when needed. I could’ve benefited so much more if I’d learned to ask for help earlier. There is no such thing as a dumb question. I’d also tell them, “Take chances when you’re young since that’s the best time to do it. If you make a mistake, at least you’re learning.”
I often see with students how worried they are about getting a good grade. Of course, grades are important, but it’s more important to ensure you’re learning and developing valuable skills. I always thought getting straight A’s was the only thing that could lead to success, but I’ve found that critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills are essential in the real world.
What do you see for yourself as you look to the future?
I want to return to school to finish my Master of Education in School Counseling. My students keep asking me, “What’s next?” I plan to start my own nonprofit one day. It’ll be called H.O.P.E. Academy – H.O.P.E. stands for Helping Other People Elevate – and it will help immigrant families and people of color because I remember the lack of opportunities and support I wish my mom had. H.O.P.E. Academy will support people trying to finish their GED, and will be a place for kids to play basketball and take music or woodshop lessons, and will even have car repair classes for single moms. That one is important to me because when I was growing up, there were times we couldn’t get around because our car had broken down, and it would cost so much money to get it repaired.
I always say, instead of chasing money, I’m chasing purpose and fulfillment. I was recently nominated for the Kriola of the Year Award through the Kriola Professional Association, a professional organization for women of color to broaden their knowledge and grow their network through resource sharing and programming. My Cape Verdean heritage is a major part of who I am, and I was honored to be nominated.
Many Cape Verdeans work as cleaners or in factories, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I want to show young people that there are other options too. I want to do more for my community because growing up, I never saw Cape Verdean women who looked like me in leadership positions. Now, I look up to Representative Liz Miranda because she’s a Cape Verdean woman who has accomplished so much, and I hope one-day others look up to me the way I look up to her. I was to ensure I continue fighting for social justice, equity, and freedom.