This phrase embodies Bill Russell’s lifelong commitment to ensuring opportunity for all young people. The NBA legend and co-founder of MENTOR received the 2019 Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards for his work off the court and his tremendous strides toward social justice and equality. Join us in honoring Bill Russell’s mission by becoming a mentor.
By searching the database on the mentoring.org/espys page, you are sharing your information with MENTOR, its Affiliates, and any program you choose to contact through the Mentoring Connector. Your email address will not be sold, shared with third parties or used for any purposes other than to keep you updated on news and opportunities related to mentoring.
Search the Mentoring Connector for local mentoring opportunities. Searches can be sorted by zip code, age of youth served, youth served, and type of mentoring. We encourage you to review the full program details listed in the Mentoring Connector to fully understand minimum match commitments, mentor requirements and program details.
Select a program and click the “contact program” button. The mentoring program receives an email alerting them to a new mentor inquiry. In addition, you will receive an email confirming your inquiry that contains the point-of-contact for the mentoring program including their phone number and email address. The mentoring program point-of-contact will reply to you through the Mentoring Connector & outline the program’s new mentor registration procedures. If you do not hear from the program that you have selected within five days, contact MENTOR at connector@mentoring.org.
Complete the mentoring program registration procedures including a background check and advance to the mentoring program’s training and matching process. Please note that background checks can take anywhere from ten minutes to a few weeks to be completed and officially received by the mentoring program.
Complete the mentoring program’s training orientation and matching process. Please note that training requirements for new mentors vary by mentoring program as do the specific matching procedures followed to connect a mentor & a mentee.
Focus on building your relationship with the mentee(s) that you have been matched with and take advantage of the mentor support provided by the mentoring program. Additional support is available through MENTOR’s Resources and Publications, the overall Program Resources submenu, and the National Mentoring Resource Center.
Watch the videos below to learn more about the power of mentoring! Hear directly from people who know the difference a mentor can make, including former President Barack Obama, musician Kendrick Lamar, actor Michael B. Jordan, and NBA stars Karl-Anthony Towns, Carmelo Anthony, Al Horford, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant.
You can also watch our Mentoring Flipped video series where young people “mentor” celebrities in the area of expertise for which they are best known! Watch athlete Laila Ali, baseball player Dexter Fowler, social media star Trent Shelton, and NBA players Isaiah Thomas, Tobias Harris, Aaron Gordon, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard gain the confidence to pursue their dreams in this comical series!
