Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
The Fifth Edition is Here!
This new edition is now available on a dedicated, interactive website designed to provide easy access to tools, resources, and best practices for mentoring programs.
About the Resource
For over 35 years, MENTOR has been committed to helping close the mentoring gap for young people, and ensuring that each human being reaches their potential, learns valuable wisdom, has amazing new experiences, and thrives in the face of life’s ups and downs.
While we focus on improving the quantity of supportive relationships and networks, we are equally committed to ensuring that these mentoring experiences are high-quality. Research suggests that when mentoring is done haphazardly, it can be more harmful to young people than having no mentor at all.
The Elements of Effective Practice for MentoringTM was born from the need to create a foundational and guiding resource for the mentoring programs and staff that design and deliver these services to youth across America.
This resource is the product of extensive research and has been adapted and refined over decades to reflect the collective wisdom from our field. Much in the same way mentors offer guidance and wisdom to young people, the Elements provide youth mentoring programs with structure, insights, and recommendations on the most effective ways to start and run a successful mentoring program.
These practices are not part of a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter model, but rather are guidelines that will help programs adapt and innovate to thrive in their unique contexts.
Informational Webinars
To support the release of the 5th edition of this resource, MENTOR offered a comprehensive overview of the new version. View the training to learn more about the updates and revised evidence-based practices to help ensure that your program is as successful as it can be.
Fifth Edition Out Now!
The updated 5th edition of the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™ expands on previous editions with updated content based on new research including:
- Youth and community voice and values
- Creating inclusive and safe program spaces for all
- Stronger program design and evaluation
You can access all 16 Elements along with helpful checklists, and so much more on our new interactive website! Tailor-make your experience with intuitive navigation, and get the most out of this comprehensive resource to meet the needs of your program.
Find our supplemental resources below:
- LGBTQ Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- STEM Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- Workplace Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- E-Mentoring Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- Peer Mentoring Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- Group Mentoring Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- Critical Mentoring Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
- Inclusive Mentoring for Youth with Disabilities Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™
Acknowledgements
MENTOR would like to thank the following organizations and individuals for their support of this publication:
- Altria, for their generous support of the development of this fifth edition.
- The Working Group of leading practitioners, researchers, and MENTOR staff and board members who contributed to the conceptualization, review, and editing of this resource.
- Special thanks to Christian Rummell (Mentorist) and Victoria Mauer (Boys & Girls Clubs of America) for their additional review and feedback in the final stages.
- The many practitioners, researchers, MENTOR Affiliate staff members, and young people who took part in focus groups in 2023, providing critical input as we first conceptualized this work.
Lastly, MENTOR would like to thank and honor the millions of mentoring professionals, young people,families and elders, volunteers, youth workers, funders, philanthropies, and researchers who make the magic of mentoring relationships happen every day for America’s young people. The mentoring movement is your movement. We hope this publication honors the mentoring programs you have built.