Why Us?

Potential is equally distributed; opportunity is not. A major driver of healthy development and opportunity is who you know and who’s in your corner. MENTOR was created more than 30 years ago to expand that opportunity for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement, serving as the expert and go-to resource on quality mentoring. The result — a more than 10x increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships, from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Today, we activate a movement across sectors that is diverse and broad and seeps into every aspect of daily life. We are connecting and fueling opportunity for young people everywhere they are from schools to workplaces and beyond.

Why Now?

Systemic and growing inequity manifests as gaps in opportunity, networks, and access to adult relationships outside of families. Mentoring unites us. It is a key response to these issues. At a time when research shows that loneliness and isolation are trending upwards, we know that relationships are powerful tools. They bring us together, navigate us to greater connection and opportunity.

How We Do the Work

  • Advancing Local Field Leadership: Supporting the effectiveness of new and existing MENTOR Affiliates to scale MENTOR’s geographic footprint and deepen the impact of the mentoring field.
  • Expanding the Movement: Motivating civic leaders, employers, and individual stakeholders to prioritize and invest in ensuring all young people have access to mentoring relationships.
  • Prioritizing Quality: Identifying, promoting, and driving the implementation of evidence-based practices combined with community wisdom to increase the quality of mentoring relationships for young people.
  • Influencing Systems: Creating and guiding innovative solutions that integrate relationship-centered practices and policies while driving resources for the adoption of mentoring structures and mindsets within youth-serving systems.

There is no such thing as other people’s children.”

Bill Russell, Founding Board Member of MENTOR

Commitment to Diversity

MENTOR is committed to fostering an environment of diversity and inclusion for all. We embrace our differences and celebrate our common humanity in advancing awareness of the need for a transformative power of supportive relationships for our young people. We believe that varied perspectives, experiences, and opinions are central assets in our mission to close the mentoring gap.

Mission

MENTOR’s mission is to fuel the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships for America’s young people and to close the mentoring gap for the one in three young people growing up without this critical support.

Values

We are leaders through service- We are eager to activate our skills, our talents, our network, and our time to empower others.

You can count on us- We are transparent, authentic, and honor our commitments.

We are in this together- We believe that respect, trust, and equality create an environment where we all continually improve and excel.

We work smart- We are resourceful stewards of the resources to which we are entrusted so that we can effectively and efficiently get the job done.

Impact

After rigorous screening for proof of impact and ability to scale, MENTOR was included as a member of the Social Impact 100 (S&I 100 Index), signifying that it is one of America’s top-performing 100 nonprofit organizations on this first-ever broad index of US nonprofits. MENTOR also has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities in the United States.

Financial Information

MENTOR is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization.

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  • MENTOR National and Affiliates will use the information you provide to better inform future publications and keep you up to date with advancements in the mentoring field. For more information, check out our privacy policy.